


Eight Days (2004)

by JennyB



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Acknowledgement of feelings, Biting, Blood, Cruelty, Dark, Facials, Hand Jobs, Humiliation, Love/Hate, M/M, Mind Games, Pain, Secret Crush, Torture, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-10-19
Updated: 2004-10-19
Packaged: 2018-01-07 05:04:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's eight days before Halloween.  Jou's just returned to school after a bad accident, and he isn't acting like himself.  Seto's found himself on the receiving end of several mental and physical attacks.  Will our favourite CEO be able to figure out what's going on and put an end to it before it's too late, or will he become the latest victim of All Soul's Night?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. October 24 - The Monster Awakens

It was a cool, overcast Sunday afternoon in late October. Seto Kaiba sat in his home office typing away furiously on his laptop, oblivious to the warm, cheery fire that danced and sparked in the fireplace behind him. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration as he pondered the charts and figures in the report he was studying. With a frustrated sigh, he shut the lid on the small device and pushed his chair away from the desk. ‘Engineers!’ he sneered to himself. ‘These morons couldn’t engineer a wet dream,’ he thought irritably as he stood up. For the past two hours, he had been reviewing the latest Kaiba Corp development project with little success. Looking at his watch, he decided to check and see what his little brother was up to, and make sure that he had completed his homework. With the upcoming Halloween holiday and the promise of boundless sweets, the young boy had been a little more than preoccupied as of late.

When he reached his sibling’s bedroom, he knocked softly on the door, then let himself in. The raven-haired youth was stretched out on his bed reading a comic book. When he heard his older brother enter, he looked up and greeted the brunet.

Kaiba responded with a curt nod, then said brusquely, “I trust you have finished your homework assignments for tomorrow?”

Mokuba nodded, handing his completed school work to the other for inspection.

The eldest Kaiba scanned through his brother’s notebooks, then tossed them back on the bed. “Good. I’ll see you at dinner.” Wordlessly, he turned towards the door to leave.

“Seto, wait.” The brunet turned back to his brother, waiting for Mokuba to continue. “Is it ok if I go over to Yugi’s for a little while tonight?”

Kaiba narrowed his eyes slightly and said flatly, “You know how I feel about Yugi.”

“But Seto,” Mokuba whined. “Jou will be coming back to school on Monday. I want Yugi to give him this card I made.”

The brunet frowned and rolled his eyes. “You know how I feel about the mutt.”

“Please, Seto?” the younger boy pleaded. “Jou’s my friend and I worked really hard on this. It would mean a lot to me.” He handed a piece of heavy card stock to his older brother and made what he hoped was the most heart-wrenchingly pathetic face he could muster.

Kaiba looked down at the front. Mokuba had drawn a crude Red-Eyes Black Dragon engaged in a fierce battle with a cute, cuddly, little lime green germ ‘demon’. On the inside was the message ‘ _Glad you’re feeling better. I’ve missed you! -Mokuba_ ’. He looked again at the front of the card, then into the pleading slate-blue eyes of his brother, and back at the card. Shaking his head slightly, he said, “Alright, Mokuba, if it means that much to you, then you may go – for one hour. Don’t make me have to come and get you.”

The smaller Kaiba jumped up and hugged his brother around the waist. “Thanks, big brother. You’re the best!” He tore out of the room so he could call Yugi and tell him to expect him later that evening. As soon as his brother had left the room, Kaiba sat down on the edge of Mokuba’s bed looking at the homemade card he still held in his hands. As he absent-mindedly traced his finger across the picture on the front, he thought back to the events that had occurred three weeks ago concerning Jounouchi.

* * *

They were standing face-to-face in the school courtyard, not six inches from one another. The outdoor pool had been closed for another season, and the leaves were just beginning to change colour in the early autumn air. The wind blew across the otherwise-deserted grounds with a forlorn howl. Suddenly, an angry voice broke the stillness of the afternoon.

“Hey, Kaiba,” shouted Jounouchi. “You’re such an arrogant bastard who deserves a major ass-kicking. I don’t know how you managed it, but you’re both a prick and an asshole, so why don’t you just go fuck yourself!”

Kaiba’s face contorted in fury. He dropped his briefcase, grabbed Jounouchi roughly by the collar of his jacket and yanked him even closer to him so they were virtually nose-to-nose. He saw the quick flash of fear in Jou’s eyes, and felt a surge of power ripple through him. Through clenched teeth he spat, “What did you just say?”

Fronting a brave attitude, Jou responded with, “You heard me. I told you to go fu-“

“No,” the brunet interrupted, giving the blond a violent shake. “What did you say about me deserving an ass-kicking?”

Jounouchi looked at him in surprise, trying vainly to squirm out of his grasp. 

Kaiba smirked cruelly. “Since you’re feeling brave, I should take you up on your offer and beat you like the pathetic dog you are, but that’s more than you deserve. ”

Jou squirmed again, but Kaiba’s grip held fast. “Fuck you, Kaiba!” he snarled venomously. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been in a fight, and it sure as hell won’t be the last.”

Kaiba growled angrily, but he could feel his self-control slowly returning. He stared icily at the blond, and seethed, “You’re not worth my time.” At the same time he shoved Jou forcibly away from him, the blond had decided to make one final attempt to free himself from the brunet’s hold. The combined momentum of both moves was sufficient to throw Jou off-balance. The blond stumbled, tripping over an uneven part of the sidewalk. Kaiba watched in what seemed like slow motion as with a dull, sickening thud, Jou hit head-first against the corner of the building. With a small groan, he slumped to the ground unconscious, blood seeping from the large gash over the bridge of his nose. 

Kaiba stood over the fallen body of the blond, and gave him a small prod with the toe of his shoe. “Come on, Mutt. Enough screwing around, this isn’t funny.” When he got no response, he prodded him a little harder. ‘ _Shit,_ ’ he thought to himself as he pulled out his cell phone and called the emergency dispatcher. While he waited for the ambulance to arrive, he checked Jou’s vital signs and attempted to slow the flow of blood from the wound. “You know, Mutt,” he said to the unconscious teen, “For someone who repeatedly demonstrates the agility of a prize-fighter, sometimes you have all the grace of a drunken elephant.” He readjusted the blood soaked handkerchief, and breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the approaching sirens. Within moments, a police cruiser and the paramedics arrived on the scene. Kaiba stood up and watched as the technicians strapped Jounouchi to a stretcher and loaded him into the back of the ambulance. 

“What happened here?” a police constable demanded, flipping out a notebook as the ambulance departed for the hospital.

Kaiba replied stonily, “The mu – Jounouchi tripped on the edge of the sidewalk there, and hit his head on the corner of the building here.” 

The officer bent down and examined the corner of the sidewalk, then looked up at the building. “Hm, that looks like about, six feet maybe.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at Kaiba. “He didn’t have any ‘ _help_ ’ covering the distance, did he?”

Kaiba gave the officer a withering stare, and said frostily, “What, _exactly_ are you implying, Officer?”

Drawing himself up to his full height, which was still considerably less than Kaiba’s, the officer replied, “Well, I would imagine that the impact would have had to carry considerable force to knock the young man unconscious, and the distance he had to cross was fairly large. You do the math.” 

“I see, so you’re also a neurologist? A physicist? I can’t imagine why you would keep such a lucrative career in law enforcement when you have such a wealth of skills at your disposal,” he replied sarcastically, noting with some satisfaction the sour expression on the constable’s face. “Are you charging me with something, Officer?”

The officer shook his head and said, “At this time, no, but –“

Kaiba interrupted him. “Fine. Here is my attorney’s business card. If you require any further comment from me, contact him.”

* * *

Of course, Kaiba had called one of his contacts at the police station and cashed in a favour. He never did hear from the constable again – Kaiba had heard through his sources that the officer had been busted back to the traffic division, much to his amusement – and since Jounouchi hadn’t been able to recall any of the details, the official report deemed the entire thing as an accident and no charges were laid. He looked up as Mokuba ran back into the room to grab his coat and his card.

“Bye, Seto!” he called, running out the door once again. “I’ll see you in a while!”

“One hour!” the brunet called after him.

* * *

It was shortly after 6:30 when Mokuba arrived at Yugi’s house. The spike-haired teen ushered the smaller boy inside and upstairs to the living area. The rest of the gang was there, watching a movie on television. “Thanks for letting me stop by, Yugi,” Mokuba began. “I really wanted to make sure Jou got this.”

“Hey, no problem,” Yugi replied. “If you can, you’re welcome to stay and watch this movie with us. Grandpa ordered us some pizza, and it should be here any minute now.”

“Ok, thanks!” the raven-haired boy replied, plopping himself onto a large cushion on the floor. They all watched in relative silence. The movie was a corny slash horror film that in most respects was more amusing than frightening, but they all seemed to be enjoying it nonetheless. About ten minutes later, they heard a knock at the door, and Yugi ran to pay the pizza delivery boy. When he returned Honda commented, “’Bout time. I’m starving.” But, instead of a hot pizza, Yugi had Jounouchi in tow.

“Yeah, glad to see you too, ya punk!” Jou said to Honda, giving him a playful slap on the arm. Everyone turned and stared. He looked a lot thinner, paler and more tired than normal, and there was a bright pink scar in the middle of his forehead where the stitches had been, but he still had the same lopsided grin and mop of blond hair they all remembered. After a moment of shock, they all jumped up and smothered Jou with hugs. When everyone had settled down, Mokuba approached Jou somewhat shyly, and said, “I’ve missed you, Jou. I’m glad you’re feeling better. I – I made you a get well card.” He handed it to Jounouchi, who looked at the front and broke into a wide grin. “Hey, cool! This is pretty good, Mokuba. Looks like we’ve got a budding _artiste_ among us!”

Mokuba grinned, and blushed happily. “Uh…Seto sends his wishes too,” the small boy lied.

At the mention of Kaiba’s name, the blond’s eyes darkened and he frowned slightly, but he quickly regained his cheerful, animated demeanour. There was another knock at the door, and this time, it really was the pizza guy. The gang all dug in while it was still hot, save for Jou who stood off to the side, staring strangely at them.

“Hey Jou,” Honda said through a mouthful of food. “Come on, dig in man!”

“No thanks, I’m not really hungry,” Jou replied absently, sitting down on the arm of the couch. After a moment, he realized that the room had gone completely quiet and they were all staring at him. “What?” he asked, sounding a little bit annoyed.

Yugi spoke first, “Well, Jou…um, we’ve all known you for a long time, and we’ve never really known you to…uh, turn down food.” He laughed nervously as he looked at the blond.

Jou looked at him blankly for a minute, then broke into a wide grin, “Heh, yeah. Well, ever since my bump on the noggin’, I just haven’t really had that much of an appetite. Weird, huh?”

“So Jou,” Anzu asked, trying to change the subject. “What really happened to you? I mean, Kaiba’s story was that you tripped and hit the corner of the building, but honestly, what were you guys doing?”

“Kaiba’s a fucking jerk,” Jou muttered under his breath.

“I beg your pardon?” Anzu asked, not quite sure what she’d heard.

Jounouchi started, and looked at the petite brunette. Running a hand haphazardly through his hair, he half-smiled and said, “You know, it’s the strangest thing. I remember getting out of class that day, and the next thing I know, I’m waking up in the hospital. From what I understand, Kaiba’s the one who called the ambulance and took care of me, so I guess I should be grateful to him for that.” He added softly, “But I’m not.”

“Do you remember anything, Jou?” Mokuba asked, his eyes brimming with curiosity.

Jou smiled. “Well, there was this – nah, you’ll all think I’m crazy.”

“Oh, come on, Jou!” Mokuba whined. “You can’t tease us like that, then not tell us! I promise I won’t laugh or make fun of you.” The others nodded in agreement. “Please?” he pleaded, making his trademark puppy dog eyes.

Jou looked down at the small boy, and snickered. “Alright, how can I say no to that face?” Mokuba grinned and flushed pink with excitement as he lay down on the floor on his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows. The others settled in, too, and looked expectantly at Jounouchi. When he was certain that all eyes in the room were on him, he began, “It was the strangest thing. I almost died while I was in the hospital, and I met my guardian angel, Ankou.”

Four pairs of eyes stared at him in amazement as he told them of how he had stopped breathing shortly after being admitted, and of the feeling he’d had of floating out of his body. He described the being he had met, and told them how it had been watching over him and had offered to help him. He said that the spirit had taken his hand, and its touch had been cold, not warm and comforting as he had expected; but nevertheless, its energy had given him the strength he had needed to fight his injuries and eventually regain consciousness.

The group chatted excitedly with Jou for a while, until the blond suddenly stood up and said, “It’s late. I have to go.” Without so much as a good bye or an explanation he walked to the front door and left, leaving the group sitting in bewildered silence.

* * *

Just before 9:00, Kaiba heard a small creak from out in the hallway. He shook his head in amusement and continued typing, casting a quick glance at the small silver clock on the desk. After a few moments, he heard another small creak. "Quit sneaking around, Mokuba. I can hear you," he called, hearing the sharp intake of breath he knew belonged to his brother. He caught a small movement out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up to see his younger brother standing sheepishly in the doorway. "You're late," he said, returning to his report.

"I'm sorry, Seto. I swear I tried to call you, but I got the answering machine on the house line, and your cell phone was turned off."

"Don't lie to me, Mokuba. I've been sitting here the entire evening, and I would have heard the telephone ring. There's no way -" He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed the little red light flashing on the telephone indicating a message was waiting. Frowning slightly, he pushed the intercom button then the speed dial for the answering service. He heard the familiar click as the line picked up, and then a pre-recorded voice stated importantly, "You have one unheard message, sent at 7:27 pm." Kaiba pressed the confirmation button, and the message began to play.

Mokuba's cheery voice filled the room. "Hi, Seto! I tried calling your cell phone, and the house, but I can't seem to get you. Just letting you know I'm going to be a little bit late - Jou's telling us this really incredible story and I want to hear how it ends. I know you said only an hour, and I know it's a school night, but I won’t be much longer, so I hope you don't mind. Talk to you later!" 

Kaiba hung up the phone and looked over at his little brother. "Hm. Strange. So, what was this incredible story that the mutt was telling that kept you out longer than you should have been?"

"Oh, Seto, it was amazing!" the young boy began. "After his accident, Jou nearly died. He was in a coma for over a week, and was saved by his guardian angel!"

Kaiba snorted disdainfully. "Mokuba, please! The mutt was probably just telling you some idiotic fairy tale. Halloween is a week away, and this is just the sort of nonsense I'd expect from a halfwit like that."

"But big brother, he -"

"Mokuba, listen to me. I don't want to hear any more about the mutt's near-death experience. And believe me; I'll be talking to him tomorrow about filling your head with such ridiculous ideas. Now, go to bed."

"Fine," the raven-haired boy huffed. "But you weren't there, Seto. You didn't see his face when he was telling his story."

"Pity," he replied, watching his younger sibling stomp off towards his bedroom.


	2. October 25 - A New Nemesis

On Monday morning, Kaiba arrived at school about half an hour early, hoping that he could catch Jou before classes began for the day. He strode arrogantly into his homeroom class, and was startled to see Jounouchi already there. The blond sat at his desk, his head bowed, his left index finger tapping incessantly on the desktop. "What the hell are you doing here so early?" he asked, setting his briefcase on his desk and looking down at Jou.

"What the hell are you doing here so early?" came the reply.

"I asked you a question."

"I asked you a question," Jou echoed.

"Imbecile!" Kaiba seethed, obviously irritated by Jounouchi parroting everything he said. Slowly, he inched his way over to Jounouchi's desk. "Look, Mutt, stay away from Mokuba. I don't want him associating with a filthy mongrel like you, especially one who has nothing better to do than to fill his head with mindless garbage. If you don't, there will be _dire_ consequences. Do we understand each other?"

Jounouchi made no reply. The only sounds in the room were the ticking of the clock and Jou's rhythmic tapping. With a growl of frustration, Kaiba spat, "Stop the damned tapping now or I swear to God I'll break that finger off!" He slammed his hand down on top of the blond's, then immediately pulled it back in revulsion. Jou's skin had felt cold and clammy, and just touching him had sent a chill up Kaiba's spine. Unable to help himself, the brunet gave a small grunt of disgust, wiping his palm against his pants.

This time the blond looked up, and once again, Kaiba was taken aback. The normally vibrant amber eyes were dull and listless, rimmed by dark purple circles. His skin looked pallid, making the fresh scar on the bridge of his nose appear that much more pink, and a fine bead of sweat covered his brow. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. The tapping stopped, and as he stared unblinkingly at the brunet, his lips twisted into a sinister grin. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned slightly forward and said coldly, "I don't like you, Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba sneered, "Believe me, Mutt. The feeling is mutual."

Smirking, Jou said, "You're so pretty. I think you'd look lovely on a bed of satin. It's really too bad..."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaiba demanded, frowning slightly.

Smiling innocently, the blond replied in a sing-song voice, "Oh, nothing, nothing...Absolutely nothing."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kaiba asked, grabbing Jou by his jacket lapels and hauling him to his feet. "You're acting really weird, even more than usual!"

A look of pure anger and loathing flashed across Jounouchi's face, lighting up his previously unemotional eyes. "I fucking hate you, Seto Kaiba! I wish I could put your pretty head on a pike!" he shouted, and shoved the brunet backwards. Kaiba stumbled, but managed to catch himself before he fell. He stared bewildered at the blond whose honey eyes were once again flat and lifeless, his left hand twitching absently against his thigh. Confused, Kaiba went over to his desk and sat down, noticing Jounouchi mimicking his movements. He made a mental note to make a few inquiries when he got home later that afternoon. He didn't know what Jounouchi was doing, but one thing he knew for certain was that he definitely wasn't acting normal.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Kaiba essentially ignored Jounouchi. A couple of times, he managed to sneak a peek over at the mutt, but never managed to catch his eye, which deep down he supposed was a good thing. The blond looked lost sitting in class, and was always either mumbling softly to himself or staring straight ahead at the blackboard. When the bell finally rang at the end of the day, Kaiba bolted from his desk and out to his waiting limo. On the drive home, he pulled out his cell phone and dialled the General Hospital that had treated Jounouchi's injuries. 

After a few minutes of redirected calls, and being left on hold, he finally reached Dr. Yamada, the physician who had treated Jou and cared for him during his stay in the hospital. "Good afternoon, Doctor. This is Seto Kaiba. I have a few questions about a recent patient of yours."

"Oh?" the soft voice replied. "Which patient?"

"Katsuya Jounouchi."

There was a silent pause on the other end. "Please forgive me, Mr. Kaiba, but unless you are an immediate family member, or Mr. Jounouchi has signed a release permitting you to ask such questions, I'm afraid I cannot help you. You see, to do so would be to violate doctor-patient confidentiality."

"I see," Kaiba said flatly. "Well, are you aware, Doctor, that Kaiba Corp supplies over twenty per cent of your yearly operating budget? I'm sure you know what would happen if that funding were cut, or worse, eliminated."

"That's extortion! I'm sorry Mr. Kaiba, but I can't compromise my ethics, regardless of the consequences."

"Hm. I'm sorry to hear that, Doctor. For your sake, you had better hope that I find the information I need before your next budget review. I believe the initial planning meeting for the next fiscal year is coming up shortly, no? I hope that my company will continue to be able to meet your needs." He angrily hung up before the other man could respond and thought to himself, ' _No matter. Talking to him was the easy route. I'm sure I can hack into their system - it will just take me a little longer than I had hoped._ '

The limo pulled into the long driveway and stopped at the front entrance. Kaiba climbed out of the backseat, grabbed his briefcase and shut the door himself, not bothering to wait for his driver. He walked into his office, hanging his coat on the coat rack and dropping his briefcase onto his desk. While he waited for his laptop to boot up, he sifted through the day's mail. As usual, there were several letters from local charities looking for donations, a couple of resumes from recent business school graduates and an invitation to a black tie affair sometime in November. He began to systematically toss everything into the fireplace when he noticed an unusual envelope. It was made of shiny, bright red paper, and had no markings on it save for his name and address in red ink - there wasn't even a stamp. Curiously, he opened it and pulled out a single sheet of cream-coloured parchment paper. A single line of writing was scrawled across the centre of the page in large, red letters - ' _In 5 days you will see. In 6 you will believe_ '. Snorting in disgust, he crumpled the paper and envelope in his fist and tossed it on top of the burning embers. ' _Damned soliciting religious idiots,_ ' he thought, and turned his attention back to his computer.

Cracking his knuckles in preparation, he began typing furiously on the keyboard. Within five minutes, he had gained access to the hospital's database. ' _Oh, please, double encryption, a firewall and a password...Give me a real challenge,_ ' he thought, as he searched through the information for Jounouchi's file. Finding what he needed, he quickly downloaded a copy of the documents for himself, then logged out of the system without leaving a trace. Leaning back in his chair, he began to scan the medical report:

‘ _Prepared by Dr. I. Yamada, Chief Neurologist_

_History: Katsuya Jounouchi (the patient) was admitted on Tuesday, October 5th at approximately 16:37. On examination, he was found to be unconscious and bleeding from a laceration to the bridge of his nose, but otherwise stable. Shortly after being admitted, he went into shock. As a result of severe tachypnea, the patient experienced acute respiratory failure requiring life saving measures. He was kept under neurological observation for a period of fourteen days, remaining in a comatose state for ten. During this time, he experienced severe sleep terrors and hyperventilation. Upon regaining consciousness, the patient was perseverating and unable to recollect events leading to his injury. The patient complained of disorientation, persistent headache and disturbed sleep…’_

Kaiba felt the tiniest twinge of guilt upon reading of Jou’s injuries, but quickly reminded himself that the brunt of it had been a result of the blond’s own clumsiness. He skipped further ahead in the report:

_‘Assessment: The laceration to the nasal bridge required sutures to close. The impact to the skull was of sufficient severity to render him unconscious. He has made a good recovery following the concussion although he displays a period of post-traumatic amnesia. The presence of retrograde amnesia suggests the concussion was severe, or Grade III. Headaches represent post-concussional headache disorder (PCHD), which is a recognized sequel to this type of injury. They are persistent and the patient has been advised to treat them with medication such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen as required. Insomnia and sleep terrors are indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder, and the patient has been advised to seek psychiatric treatment; however, he has been reluctant to do so. This type of injury carries a theoretical 5% risk of developing delayed onset post-traumatic epilepsy for a period of five years…’_

Frowning, he saved the file and closed it. ‘ _Why the hell would the mutt be refusing treatment?_ ’ he wondered to himself. Flipping through his Rolodex, he found the personal number for Dr. Kato, a renowned psychiatrist, and dialled his number.

“Hello?” came the mature voice from the other end.

“Hello, Doctor. This is Seto Kaiba. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

“No, no. I always have time to talk with you. What can I do for you? Are you finally going to come in and get acquainted with my couch, so to speak?”

Kaiba laughed, “Hm, not likely. You and Dr. Freud are still going to have to wait a while for that. Actually, the reason I called you was because I have this –“ He coughed, then continued, “- Friend who has been acting very strange lately. He was in an accident and suffered a severe concussion, but now, he’s not anything like he was before.”

“Oh? What is he doing?”

“Mood swings, talking nonsense, talking to himself, a blank expression most of the time…twitching.”

“Twitching?”

“Yes, he’s always tapping his fingers.”

“I see. Due to the nature of the injury, it sounds like your friend might be suffering from some type of stress-induced dissociative disorder or schizophrenia. I would imagine that it will eventually disappear with time. However, without actually examining him for myself, I can’t say with absolute certainty what is truly troubling your friend.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your time.” He hung up the phone and stared at the wall in front of him. His ‘research’ had gotten him some answers, but now he had even more questions. As he sat there pondering his next course of action, his laptop beeped and a window popped open. Annoyed, he tried to close it, but only succeeded in making the window larger. To the strains of the ‘ _Dies Irae_ ’ from Mozart’s ‘ _Requiem in D-Minor _’, he watched as a little black coffin was paraded around the screen. Just as the last notes faded away, the fire in the fireplace was blown completely out, and a cold chill immediately filled the room. The word ‘ _You_ ’ in blood red lettering appeared on the screen and took on a ‘dripping’ effect. The word ‘ _Die_ ’ popped up over top of this, appearing in several different languages, and as they slowly faded from the screen, the light bulbs in his desk lamp exploded. Somewhat unnerved, Kaiba slammed his laptop shut and hastily left his office intent on finding out whose idea of a joke had been to send him a message set to the Mass for the Dead.__


	3. October 26 - Exposure and Denial

Kaiba was in a foul mood as he entered the school the next morning. His top IT specialists had not been able to find out who had sent him that file nor had he been able to uncover anything about it himself. It wasn’t the message that bothered him so much as it was the fact that someone had been able to get into his system, a system he had designed to supposedly be hacker proof. He had slept very little that night, obsessing repeatedly about how it had been done, and who had done it. Tired and frustrated, he slammed his briefcase on the floor and dialled the combination to his locker. He opened the door, and jumped backwards in surprise. “Jesus!” he exclaimed as he slammed the door. A few students in the hall stopped what they were doing and looked over at the normally emotionless brunet. His cold, blue eyes stared witheringly at them, and they quickly finished up what they were doing and scurried off to their classes. Satisfied that he would not be bothered, he took a closer look, inspecting the contents. Stuffed inside his locker was a dead cat – at least that’s what Kaiba assumed it was given the copious amount of coagulated blood that had congealed on every surface of the body.

Not wanting to answer questions from the school authorities, he once again shut his locker and strode off in the direction of the biology lab for a pair of gloves, a plastic garbage bag, a bottle of distilled water and a roll of paper towels. On his way back, he bumped into Yugi, Anzu and Honda. "Shit," he muttered under his breath.

“Hey, Kaiba!” Yugi called out cheerfully. “What are you doing?”

“Mind your own business, Yugi,” he replied, brushing past the group.

“But, class is about to start!”

“Save it. I have more important things to attend to than listening to some overpaid chump prattle on. Excuse me.” He heard Yugi calling after him, saying something about picking up his assignments for him, but he ignored him. By the time he had returned to his locker, classes for the day had begun. Looking around the hallway, he confirmed that he was indeed alone, and set to work.

Donning the gloves, he reached inside and nearly gagged as he caught the scent of rotting flesh mixed with the sickly sweet scent of drying blood. His hands touched the small body contained within, and he felt his fingers slipping in the gelling fluids. With a little bit of effort, he managed to free the torso from the bottom of his locker. Grimacing in disgust, he looked at the gruesome remains of the poor animal. Its gut had been slashed violently open, the viscera hanging from the cavity in grotesque loops and twists. The cat had been skinned, its flesh stripped clean from the muscle, and its eyes had been painstakingly removed from the sockets. Judging from the way the animal’s teeth were barred in pain, it had been tortured and skinned alive. As a final morbid touch, whoever had done this had taken the time to put a tiny blue collar with a little silver bell around the torn flesh of its throat. Nauseated, he put the body into the garbage bag, and began the task of wiping the last traces of blood and mucous from the bottom of his locker. When he had finished, the only evidence that remained was the permeating stench of putrid flesh. Tossing his gloves in the garbage can, he grabbed his briefcase in one hand, the garbage bag in the other, and headed downtown to the police station.

* * *

If Kaiba had been in a bad mood that morning, he was absolutely livid by the time he returned to the school shortly before lunch. The police had been of no help to him, claiming that a crazy message on a computer and a dead cat in a locker was hardly of major concern, especially given the time of year. He was ‘encouraged’ to continue to report such behaviour, but until more substantive evidence surfaced, there would be no resources devoted to an investigation. In a rage, he hurled his briefcase at the wall, feeling some satisfaction when the clasps sprung open spilling the contents all over the floor. He knelt down and began stuffing books and papers back into the case. As he was finishing up, he saw a small, royal blue envelope on the floor with ‘ _Seto Kaiba_ ’ written in block letters across the front. Tearing it open, he pulled out a single sheet of paper upon which had been written in beautiful calligraphy ‘ _Mr. Fluffy had nine lives. You’ve only got one._ ’ Kaiba’s eyes widened slightly as he read the message, an uneasy feeling gripping him. He felt a little bit afraid, and he hated it. Someone was doing a good job of playing mind games, and he knew he had to get to the bottom of it before it got completely out of hand. 

Just then, the bell rang for lunch, and students began streaming into the hallway. He grabbed his briefcase and stood up, his anger replaced by apprehension. He watched as his classroom emptied, seeing Honda, Anzu, Yugi and Jou talking amongst themselves. Kaiba frowned. The blond definitely was more animated than yesterday, but he still had that gaunt look about him, and his eyes were even darker than they had been. He watched as Yugi, Anzu and Honda exploded into peals of laughter over something Yugi had said, while Jounouchi simply stood there, looking somewhat confused. ‘ _Idiots,_ ’ Kaiba thought, ‘ _They spend the majority of their time with the mutt, yet they don’t notice anything strange about him._ ’ Kaiba figured that such gross inattentiveness was a sign of blatant stupidity or severe denial, and looking at the group, he highly suspected it was the former.

The blond, feeling Kaiba’s gaze upon him stopped and stared directly at the brunet. “I’ll catch up with you guys,” he called, waving dismissively to the others, never wavering in his gaze. Yugi nodded, and the three disappeared down the corridor. Narrowing his eyes, Jou sneered and said, “Hello, Beautiful. How’s the most arrogant piece of shit to ever grace the planet doing today?”

“So, now you’re talking to me,” Seto replied icily. “What’s the matter? Decided to give up being a parrot in favour of a pathetic mongrel?”

Jou said nothing, but began humming to himself, pacing slowly back and forth in front of the brunet. 

Seto cocked an eyebrow. The tune seemed very familiar somehow…but he just couldn’t place it. Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise as something in his mind clicked. ‘ _What’s New, Pussycat!_ ’ he thought to himself.

“What’s the matter, Beautiful? Cat got your tongue?” Jou said, giggling and drawing ever closer to the brunet. When he was about six inches from Kaiba, he sang softly, breathlessly, “Pussycat, Pussycat, I love you, yes it’s true.” He grabbed the taller teen by his jacket lapels, and pulled him down to kiss him deeply, his tongue thrusting violently into his mouth.

Kaiba shuddered as he felt another cold chill shoot down his spine, and he shoved the blond roughly away. Shocked and speechless, he stared at the blond. 

“Oh, you don’t like Tom Jones?” Jou asked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and snickering softly. “Everyone’s a critic, but that’s ok. I’ve got a full repertoire – ‘ _Cat Scratch Fever_ ’, ‘ _The Year of the Cat_ ’, ‘ _Cat’s in the Cradle_ ’…uh, anything by Cat Stevens.”

Growling in anger, Kaiba grabbed Jou by the collar and slammed him into the wall behind him. He looked around to make sure they were alone, and leaning close to the blond’s ear, he whispered through clenched teeth, “Don’t screw with me, Mutt. I’m warning you!”

“No, Seto Kaiba, I’m warning you,” Jou snarled, grabbing one of Kaiba’s wrists and twisting his arm around behind his back. The brunet gave a small yelp of pain as Jounouchi wrenched upwards on his shoulder, forcing him down onto one knee. “Play nice and everything will be fine. Continue to fuck with me, and I’ll make sure you suffer until the day you die.” The blond released his grip and sauntered away to join his friends, leaving Kaiba with a sore shoulder, a bruised ego, and wondering what the hell had just happened.

* * *

Kaiba excused himself from classes for the afternoon, as well. Just before the bell had signalled the start of the afternoon session, he had stopped Yugi and demanded a moment of his time, an action that resulted in a hostile glare from Jou. He had handed the short teen a folded note then left, all the while feeling amber eyes boring a hole through his body. Now, as he walked out of the building and into the cool fall air, he felt weak and his knees were shaking. He couldn’t explain it, but being around the blond was beginning to terrify him.

He went home and tried to do some paperwork, but every time he looked at the computer screen, he kept waiting for another window to pop open on him. He slammed his laptop shut and pushed it off to the side of his desk. He pulled out his schoolwork, but found he couldn’t concentrate on the textbook in front of him. Feeling a headache coming on, he took some aspirin and lay down on the couch in his office. He closed his eyes, and within a few minutes had drifted off into a fitful sleep. He was half-awake when he heard soft footsteps entering the room. He jumped to his feet in a defence posture and heard a small gasp from behind the desk.

“Seto?” a small voice called tentatively as a mop of raven black hair peeked over the top.

“Mokuba?”

The young boy slowly walked over to his brother and looked up at him. Kaiba’s face was pale, and his sapphire eyes were wide. “Big brother, are you ok?” he asked, his voice concerned.

Kaiba slowly sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to him. As soon as Mokuba was seated, he said, “I’m sorry I startled you, Mokuba. Just a nightmare, I suppose. I want you to promise me something, no questions, and no arguments.”

“Ok, Seto,” Mokuba said, wrinkling his forehead in worry.

“I want you to stay away from Jounouchi for a while, and be very careful when you’re coming home from school. I don’t think it’s safe.”

“But why, Seto? What do you mean?”

“Mokuba, just promise me.”

“Ok Seto, I promise. Will you please tell me what is going on?”

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Mokuba looked over to see Yugi standing there, then he looked back to his brother who didn’t look at all surprised to see him, and then back over to Yugi. Confused, the young boy opened his mouth as if to speak, but his brother spoke first.

“Yugi and I have something very important to talk about. You and I will speak later.” Kaiba ushered him out the door, shutting it behind him. As soon as his little brother was gone, Kaiba motioned Yugi over to the couch, settling himself in his leather desk chair. He tented his long, slender fingers pensively in front of him, as if trying to decide where to begin. After a moment, he said, “Yugi, what the hell is wrong with Jounouchi?”

Soft amethyst eyes widened slightly in surprise at the question. “What do you mean, Kaiba?”

“Come on, Yugi! Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed anything strange about him over the past couple of days!” the brunet said incredulously. “The vacant stares, the continual, _irritating_ tapping, the fact that he sits in class and talks to himself – or how about how he doesn’t chatter on stupidly for hours on end? Honestly, I don’t hang around with the mutt and even _I_ noticed he’s different.”

Yugi looked down at the pale blue carpet, scuffing at it with his toe. “We just figured he was still healing. He’s been a little bit different lately, but the doctors told us to expect some unusual behaviour from a head injury.”

“Unusual behaviour I could handle. This is bordering on psychotic, and it has to stop. Sane, rational people don’t do things like–“ Kaiba stopped himself, looking over at the shorter teen. He really didn’t feel like getting into the strange details of the past two days.

“Like what, Kaiba?”

The brunet sighed inwardly. If he wanted Yugi to understand him, he’d have to explain himself. He fixed an icy stare on the spike-haired boy and said, “This conversation does not leave the confines of this room. If I find out otherwise, I will make you pay for lying to me. Do we understand each other?” Seeing Yugi’s nod of assent, he relaxed a little and said, “For a start, yesterday he told me he hated me and wished he could put my head on a pike –“ He saw the confused look on the other’s face, “–It’s a large spear. And today, he kissed me, but not before he’d put a dead, mutilated cat in my locker. That’s what I was doing this morning instead of going to class. I was cleaning that rotting, putrid mess up.”

Yugi stared at him wide-eyed in disbelief, his mouth open. Finally, he shook his head slightly, and said, “No, I can’t believe Jou would do something like that. He wouldn’t!”

Kaiba looked sternly at the smaller teen and said crisply, “Yugi, have you ever, in all your encounters with me, ever known me to lie to you?”

“N-no,” came the soft reply.

“Then why would I lie to you now? What could I possibly have to gain from deceiving you?”

“But, Jou…He’s not like that, Kaiba! You don’t know him!” Yugi stood up, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“Yugi,” Kaiba said, the harsh edge fading from his voice, “I understand denial, really I do. Sometimes it’s what keeps us going, keeps us fighting. But, listen to me – in all the time I’ve known you and the mutt and the others, I’ve never been –“ He hesitated, trying to will himself to say the words. “I’ve never felt afraid to be around him, and I tend to trust my instincts.” He stood up and walked over to the short teen who was trying to fight back a wave of tears. Kaiba was hardly surprised by the reaction, but was obviously annoyed by Yugi’s pigheadedness and unwillingness to help him deal with the blond. “Look, if you’re not going to help me, I can accept that. But tomorrow, just try to look at him with unbiased eyes.   
You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

As a tear trickled down his cheek, Yugi looked up into Kaiba’s cold blue eyes and said, “There’s no way Jou would do that.” He turned and ran from the room, nearly tripping over Mokuba who had been eavesdropping at the door. Kaiba made a move as if to go after Yugi, but instead glared at his smaller sibling, staring wide-eyed on his hands and knees in the hallway.

“Seto, now I understand what you told me, and I believe you.”


	4. October 27 - The Nightmare Begins

After Yugi had left, the Kaiba brothers had talked more in detail about their respective experiences with Jounouchi over the past few days. While Mokuba could not recollect any times when the blond had been angry towards him, he did tell his older brother about Jou’s apparent lack of appetite and his abrupt departure from Yugi’s house. Mokuba admitted that at the time he hadn’t really thought too much about it, so it wasn’t surprising that Yugi and the others hadn’t either. 

When it had came time for Mokuba to go to bed, he somewhat embarrassedly admitted to his older brother that he was a little bit afraid to go to sleep by himself, so Kaiba had sat watch in an armchair at the young boy’s bedside until he fell asleep. Through heavy-lidded eyes, he watched the rhythmic rise and fall of breath as the other slumbered peacefully. He had intended to just rest his eyes for a moment before returning to his work, but instead, he had drifted off into a restless sleep.

Kaiba awoke to the light streaming through the window and a terrible stiffness in his body from having slept in a chair all night. After a brief period of disorientation, he realized he felt like death warmed over, it was now morning, and he had to be at school within half an hour. He jumped up with a start, and roughly woke Mokuba. While his younger brother began getting ready for school, he dashed to his room and quickly showered and dressed. Since they were running late, there would not be time for the two brothers to ride to school together, so Kaiba informed his driver that only Mokuba would be driven to school, and he would drive himself. He saw Mokuba wave good-bye to him as he climbed into the back seat of the limo while he unlocked the door of his metallic silver BMW Z4 convertible. As the engine roared to life, he popped the clutch and laid down a good twenty metres of rubber on the pavement. Fortunately, the traffic was forgiving, and he pulled into the parking lot with about ten minutes to spare. Swinging into an open space, he locked up the brakes trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian that had crossed in front of him. He looked up and straight into the face of Jounouchi.

Jou’s eyes were glinting with an unseen fury, and as soon as he realized the driver of the car was Kaiba, he threw his bag to the ground and stormed over to the driver’s side. With the top down, the brunet was at the mercy of Jou’s rage. “You careless, arrogant, asshole!” he screamed, drawing the attention of a few straggling students. He grabbed Kaiba by the collar and drew back his other hand into a fist. “I should kill you here where you stand!” As Kaiba mentally planned his defence, the blond’s anger was replaced with a look of pain and confusion. Slowly, he let Kaiba’s coat slip from his fingers, and he brought both his palms up to his head as if trying to relieve the pressure of a major headache.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Kaiba quickly turned off the car and slid out on the passenger side, casting a quick sidelong glance at Jounouchi. Seeing the blond was still preoccupied, he grabbed his briefcase and quickly walked up the steps into the school. About five meters inside, he heard a crash behind him, and turned to see Jou standing in the doorway, a snarl on his face, a feral glint in his eyes, and panting heavily. 

“I’m not finished with you yet, you son-of-a-bitch!” he roared, charging headlong into the brunet and knocking him against a row of lockers. Kaiba tried to shove the blond away, but found his efforts blocked and his arms pinned to the side as if he were a weak child. Jou held him there for a few moments while he regained his breath, then said softly, “As I was saying, I _should _kill you here, but now is not the time or the place. But, there is something I want from you.”__

“And what might that be?” Kaiba demanded, his face expressionless but his heart racing in his chest.

Jou grinned nastily, his pale face and sunken eyes making him look even more macabre. A deep, throaty chuckle rose in his throat as he reached up to undo the top two buttons of Kaiba’s uniform jacket. The brunet once again tried to break free of Jou’s grasp, but was rewarded with a violent shake, knocking his head on the metal behind him. “Stay,” the blond barked, then laughed at his own joke. “Looks like you’re _my_ bitch now, Seto Kaiba.” Jounouchi sneered as he saw the flash of panic in the brunet’s eyes as he pushed the opened collar aside to expose the pale flesh underneath. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of Kaiba’s expensive cologne. “You are so pretty, so precious,” he murmured tenderly as he reached up to touch the now naked flesh. 

Kaiba recoiled at the touch. He felt that same sickening chill shoot down his spine as before, only this time it radiated out to his extremities. He tried to move, to shove the blond away from him, but his arms felt like lead weights, his mind felt disoriented, his head was swimming. “Stay away from me,” he tried to say, but his voice betrayed him, refusing to comply.

“That’s better,” soothed Jou. “It’s always nicer when you don’t resist.” He pressed his lips to Kaiba’s neck, gently licking the tender skin. “Oh, yes,” he hissed, and began to more forcibly work on the area, suckling hard with his lips and tongue, nibbling with his teeth.

Kaiba felt like his lungs were being filled with ice water. The longer he stayed in contact with the blond, the more he felt himself becoming detached from his body. Eventually, he felt like he was a spectator, merely watching the events unfolding around him, unable to do anything to stop them.

As Jou continued with his ministrations, he heard a small whimper escape from Kaiba’s lips. “Are you enjoying this, Beautiful?” he whispered against the brunet’s skin, causing it to break out into goose bumps. “I know I am,” he continued, grinding his hips into Kaiba’s leg.

Kaiba shuddered as he felt the sharp poke of Jou’s erection, praying that the blond wouldn’t notice his. He tried to convince himself that he didn’t want the blond – it was only an uncontrollable reaction within his body caused by Jou’s actions. Hell, he didn’t even like being around him. He closed his eyes and tried to regain control of his senses. He was jolted back to reality as he felt a sharp sting against his neck, then tremendous pain. With a growl, he shoved Jou away from him. Kaiba put his fingers up to the wound, and when he drew them back, he saw they were stained with bright crimson. As he stood there staring at Jounouchi, he could feel the small rivulets of blood trickling down his throat. Shocked, he stared at him and asked, “What have you done?”

Jounouchi wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, licking clean the streak of blood that he’d created. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “I’ve marked you. You belong to me now.” Just then the bell rang, and Jou grinned. “Saved by the bell, I suppose. We will finish this later, I promise you that.”

Jou snuck into the classroom while Kaiba made his way to the bathroom. He knew he couldn’t very well walk into class in his present condition without drawing come strange looks. Once inside, he locked the door and looked in the mirror. His jacket looked fine, but his white dress shirt was completely soaked with blood. Cursing to himself, he quickly tore off his jacket and shirt, and used the ruined white garment to mop up the blood as best he could. After a few moments, he had slowed the bleeding to a faint trickle, and looking at the wound he could see a small arc of six tiny gashes where the blond had torn his flesh. Frowning, he opened his briefcase and pulled out a piece of gauze and some tape. Fortunately, the bite was low enough on his neck that when his jacket was buttoned, the bandage would not be visible. He quickly threw his jacket back on, tossed his shirt in the garbage can, and walked to his class.

* * *

The rest of the morning had passed relatively uneventfully. He had been given an extra assignment as punishment for being late; however, he had managed to complete it during class time so he didn’t really care. Yugi had looked over at him when he’d entered the classroom, but did not acknowledge his presence. Jou had been sitting at his desk, almost catatonic, and had stayed that way for much of the morning.

When the bell rang for lunch, Kaiba made sure that there was always a crowd of people around him despite his usual preference for dining alone. The wound at his throat throbbed, continuously reminding him of the morning’s encounter and Jounouchi’s promise. Not wanting to tempt fate, he saw to it that the blond didn’t have any opportunity to be alone with him. He could see that Jou was aware of his plan, and wasn’t very happy about it. On the far side of the crowded cafeteria, the blond paced back and forth like a caged animal waiting to pounce, glaring daggers at the brunet as he did so. 

“Hey Kaiba, can we sit with you?”

Startled, Kaiba looked up to see Yugi, Honda and Anzu standing behind him. “Why aren’t you three sitting with the mutt?” he asked.

“Jou said he had something to take care of, and would see us after lunch,” Yugi said, sitting beside the brunet. Honda and Anzu took seats opposite him.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “Really? He had something to take care of? Whatever. He’s right over there.” Kaiba pointed towards Jounouchi, but when he looked over, no one was there.

The other three looked to where Kaiba had pointed, then back to the brunet. “Kaiba, man, you must be seeing things,” Honda piped up.

“Shut up,” Kaiba snapped, picking at his lunch. For the rest of the meal, he didn’t say a word, rolling his eyes as Anzu started talking about the cute new guy who had moved in next door to her. When it was time to go back to class, Kaiba thought sourly to himself that next time he’d take a run-in with Jounouchi over listening to Anzu any day.

* * *

For their literature class that afternoon, the teacher had assigned them several chapters of Macbeth to read. All of the students were furiously pouring over their textbooks and making notes, save for two. One was Kaiba, who had read Macbeth too many times to count, and the other was Jounouchi, who had been fast asleep at his desk for the past ten minutes. Kaiba studied the blond while he slept, noticing his animated movements and silent muttering. After another five minutes, Jou’s movements became more exaggerated and he was starting to whimper audibly, as if in pain. With a start, Jounouchi jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process, his eyes wild, his face pale and dripping with sweat. “Oh fucking God, fucking   
Jesus!” he shouted. “He’s in my head! The asshole is in my fucking head, and he’s going to kill me!”

Kaiba looked over at Yugi, who was staring dumbfounded at his best friend. Amethyst gazed into cobalt blue and Kaiba quirked an eyebrow as if to say, “You see?” Both looked back over at the blond who had finally stopped shouting and was now sitting cross-legged on the floor shaking uncontrollably, his head in his hands and rocking back and forth, tears streaming down his face.

The teacher ran over to Jounouchi and touched him softly on the shoulder. The blond jumped as if he had been burned by a hot poker. When he saw the concerned eyes staring at him, the only thing he was able to say was, “I don’t feel well at all.”

Grabbing him under the arm, she helped Jou to his feet, then scribbled a note on a piece of paper. “Jounouchi, I want you to go home and get some rest. You look terrible. Are you ok to go on your own?” 

Jou nodded and took the paper with trembling fingers. As he walked out the door, Kaiba swore he heard Jou repeating, “I can’t do this, it’s him or me.”

* * *

The bell rang, signifying the end of the day, and none too soon for Kaiba’s liking. As he threw everything into his briefcase, he felt a small tap on his shoulder. Turning around in his chair, he sat staring eye-to-eye with Yugi. “What do you want?” he asked frostily.

“Kaiba, I – I wanted to apologize to you for not believing you. I guess when you told me about Jou, I didn’t want to believe that something could still be wrong with him. I mean, he’s my best friend, and when you said that he was acting strange, I felt so –“

“Save it for your therapist, Yugi,” Kaiba interrupted. “I’m not interested.” He closed his briefcase and stood up. As he walked out the front doors of the school, he saw a crowd of students gathered in the parking lot talking in excited whispers. As he walked towards his car, he saw several people watching him nervously, backing away from him as he approached. Puzzled, he continued walking until he got to an opening in the crowd and saw what everyone had been looking at. “ _HOLY SHIT!_ ” he yelled, dropping his briefcase beside him in shock. Quickly regaining his composure, he surveyed the scene in front of him. What had been a metallic silver BMW Z4 was now a twisted piece of metal, glass, plastic and rubber.

All four tires had been cut down, and the car was resting on its rims. The side mirrors and rear view mirror had been broken off, and the front windshield was so damaged, the glass looked like it had been frosted. Since the convertible top had been down, the leather interior had been slashed and the stereo had been ripped from its resting place in the dash. Every lens cover had been broken, every light had been smashed, and every conceivable surface of the body was covered with dents and scratches. As a final touch, ‘ _I HATE YOU_ ’ and a smiley face had been carved in one side of the dash, just above the instrument cluster. The only thing that would have made the car look worse would have been if it were on fire. 

Silently, he flipped open his cell phone and called his driver. “Pick me up at school, and have someone send a tow truck.” As soon as he finished his call, he looked around at the mass of people and very quietly and very coldly said, “I would strongly suggest you all leave. Now.” He watched as people went scurrying in every direction, then looked again at the remains of his car. He frowned. He had a pretty good idea who was behind the deed, but he didn’t have any concrete proof. He gently touched the bandage that was still at his throat, and he shivered involuntarily. Under normal circumstances, he would take great pleasure in suing the offender into oblivion, or having one of his bodyguards take a ‘personal interest’ in their well-being; however, this situation was far from normal in every respect. He had never dealt with a stark-raving lunatic before. As he waited for his limo to arrive, he ran his hand over the once-smooth lines of the chassis. He shuddered as a thought came to him. ‘ _What if this had been me? ___’


	5. October 28 - Hate, Love and Goodbye

By morning, Kaiba was in considerable pain. The bite he had received was stinging, and the area was covered with a grotesque dark purple bruise about the size of his fist. He had put some antibacterial cream on the wound, but doubted it was helping. Occasionally, it would still ooze blood, the thick fluid seeping out in dark crimson droplets, staining anything it touched. Between the blood loss, the stress, and the lack of sleep over the past week, Kaiba was feeling very drained, and was beginning to take on the same pallid appearance as Jounouchi. He walked slowly yet authoritatively into his classroom, settling himself into his chair. Seeing he still had twenty minutes before classes began, he pulled out his laptop to check his email. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something coming quickly towards him, but before he had time to react, he felt a fist make contact with the right side of his face. The brunet was knocked backwards off his chair, and as he looked up, he saw Honda standing over top of him, his hazel eyes glinting with malice, a smirk on his face.

“That’s for what you did to Jou, you asshole!” he shouted.

Kaiba jumped to his feet, narrowing his eyes as he glared at his attacker. “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you insane?” he seethed as he felt his cheek.

“Oh come on, Kaiba!” Honda snapped. “I know what happened to your _precious_ car, and then what you did to Jou afterwards!”

“I haven’t seen the mutt since he left school yesterday,” Kaiba snarled.

“You’re so full of it! Ok, so maybe _you_ didn’t beat the hell out of him personally. What did you do? Hire a bunch of goons to do the job for you?”

As if on cue, the door swung open and in walked Yugi and Jounouchi. Jounouchi looked like he had gone five rounds with a meat tenderizer, and it had won. He sported two black eyes, a huge bruise on his jaw, and what looked like ligature marks around his neck and wrists. He looked at Honda and Kaiba, and ran his fingers through his hair. Kaiba noticed he had several deep gashes on his forearms, and his palms were shiny, red and full of watery blisters. When he removed his hands from his head, they could see the deep cut on his forehead that was only now beginning to clot, his blond hair pink and matted into the wound. Honda looked at him and said, “Hey Jou, I think Kaiba’s ready to apologize for what he did to you!”

Jou looked at him and said, “It wasn’t Kaiba.”

Honda’s mouth dropped open. “Are you sure? I mean, maybe he hired someone?”

Again, Jou shook his head. “It wasn’t him.”

“I don’t need to hire people to take care of insignificant annoyances,” Kaiba said, drawing himself up to his full height. Staring coldly at Honda, he added, “And, if you ever try to hit me again, you will receive a personal demonstration attesting to that fact.” Kaiba picked up his chair and scattered belongings and sat back at his desk, scowling at Honda.

* * *

For the rest of the morning, Jou seemed like a different person. He still had the wraith-like appearance, and occasionally, he would lapse into periods where he would silently tap his fingers on the top of his desk, but for the most part, he sat quietly at his desk, his eyes heavy-lidded and deep in thought. When the bell rang signalling the beginning of lunch, it was as though someone had ignited a fire under him. The blond sprang to his feet and strode purposefully over to where Kaiba was gathering up his things. The brunet looked coldly up at him, then went back to what he was doing.

“Kaiba,” the blond said, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists, “I really need to talk to you.”

“Beat it, Mutt. I’m busy,” he replied curtly.

“Kaiba, please,” he pleaded. His eyes were very dark, and he looked extremely pale. 

“Look Jounouchi, after everything you’ve done this week, you must be some kind of an idiot to think for even one second that I’m interested in seeing you, much less talking you.” He stood up to go, but Jou stood in his way. “Move, Mutt.”

“Please Kaiba, just listen to me for two minutes,” he begged, grabbing Kaiba’s hand. 

The brunet could feel the large, watery blisters on the blond’s hand, and despite their heat, he was still filled with a sickening cold sensation upon contact with him. He shivered, and felt as though the room were spinning. Nauseated, he focused on the only thing in the room that seemed to be still – a pair of amber eyes. As he stared into them, he felt the small hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He wanted to jerk his hand away and run, but found he was rooted to the spot. 

“Kaiba, I’m really sorry about your car, but it was either it or you. I wouldn’t – couldn’t – hurt you, and when I destroyed your car, he punished me. He always punishes me when I don’t do what he asks – and he scares the living shit outta me. I try to be good, but his demands are getting to be too much and I just want to be left alone again. I don’t know how much longer I can keep him away from me, so for now just listen. I don’t know if I can stop him, but I’m going to have to try, for your sake. Just be on guard, and we can get through this. Remember, he’s watching, and he knows everything. Be careful, Kaiba, you mean more to me than you know, not that you’d care.” Tears welled up in the blond’s eyes, and he sighed, “If only I’d done something sooner. But now, I’m too tired, and I don’t have much time left. I promise you that I’ll fight until the end, but I think he’s going to win next time.”

Kaiba felt the blond’s grip slacken, and as he pulled his hand out of Jou’s grasp, the room abruptly came to a halt. The only thing he could ask was, “Who?” 

Jou just shook his head, and said, “I can’t tell you that. If I do, we both die. I’m sorry.” He quickly left the room, leaving Kaiba alone and very confused.

He sat back down at his desk, deciding to forego lunch. He could feel the swelling on his cheek and knew that Honda had given him a black eye. His head felt like there was someone trying to drive an ice pick through it, and his stomach was telling him that if he tried to eat anything, it would be coming back for an encore appearance. He took a couple of aspirins and laid his head down on the cool, smooth desktop for a quick power nap. The last thing he remembered before drifting off was a cold voice calling, “It’s almost time, Kaiba. It’s almost time.”

* * *

He awoke with a start to see that he had been asleep for forty-five minutes, and it was almost time for classes to resume for the afternoon. As he stifled a yawn, he wondered why he had been so sleepy lately. Normally, he would go to bed around midnight and be up and working by five, but over the past few days, he had been nodding off at school, taking afternoon naps, and waking up with just enough time to spare in the morning. He figured that maybe he wasn’t getting enough B12, and made a mental note to start taking a daily multivitamin. He stood up and stretched. His headache was gone, but he felt strangely unrefreshed. He sat back at his desk and pulled out “ _The Art of War_ ” by Sun Tzu and continued reading.

He looked up as Yugi and Jou came into the classroom and sat down. He felt his heart racing as he looked over at the blond, and he noticed that a cold sweat had broken out over his brow. The two appeared deep in conversation, and Kaiba watched them curiously over his book. Yugi’s face was set in a frown, and he looked upset – no, worried – about something. Something the blond was telling him, undoubtedly. Kaiba listened intently, and was eventually able to make out what Jou was saying.

“I’m just a little stronger today, that’s all. He must have found someone else, but I don’t know how long they can sustain him for. Yug, I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.”

“Jou, what are you talking about?” Yugi asked, the concern apparent in his voice. “You’re not making any sense. Who’s found someone?”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next little while, but I know that he’s never going to let me go. Just remember that whatever happens, it wasn’t really me. There are just some fights that are too tough to win, but that doesn’t keep me from trying. Promise me that you’ll remember me the way I was and not the way I am.”

“Jou, you’re talking crazy. Who’s got you? You have to tell someone and get some help! I’ll go get the nurse.”

“Nah Yug, it’s too late for that now. I can just feel it. I’ve accepted what’s going to happen to me, and you are going to have to accept it, too. Here.” Jou reached into his pocket and pulled out his beloved Duel Monsters cards. He fondly flipped through them, smiling softly as if reuniting with old friends. He squared them up and handed them over to Yugi. “Take care of these guys for me. I’m gonna be going away for a little while, but I know they’ll be in good hands.”

Violet eyes stared at him. “Where are you going, Jou? When will you be back?”

“Honestly Yug, I don’t know. And for your sake, I think it’s better that you don’t know, either.”

Yugi nodded and took the offered deck, carefully stowing them in his backpack. “I’ll guard them well. They’ll be here whenever you want them back.” 

Jou nodded. “No more questions, Yugi. He’ll be here soon, so I gotta go before something else happens. When the time comes, I’m sure you’ll know what needs to be done. Later.” He gave one of his trademark grins and flashed a V-for-Victory sign at Yugi, his swollen fingers and beaten body making the gesture seem that much more heartbreaking. He looked back at Kaiba, staring deep into his cobalt eyes. “Good bye. I love you. I’m sorry,” he mouthed, then hanging his head he walked out of the room.

Kaiba and Yugi exchanged glances. Kaiba felt an ache in his heart like he had never experienced before, and he sighed heavily as he watched a tear roll silently down Yugi’s cheek. It was the last time either of them ever saw Jounouchi at school.


	6. October 29 - Dreams and Revelations

Kaiba was barely able to keep his eyes open. He had lay awake in bed until well past midnight thinking about the conversation he’d had with Jounouchi and what he had overheard between him and Yugi. He was confused – confused by the blond’s confessed love for him, confused by the emotional pain he had felt as he’d watched Jou leave the classroom, confused by what the blond had meant by being on guard. He had finally fallen asleep sometime after 2:00, and had woken up with a mere twenty minutes to wash, dress and be at school. Now, as he sat in his math class finding his teacher about as enthralling as watching paint dry, he found himself thinking about Jounouchi again. He looked over at his desk which sat empty and quiet, and wondered where the blond could be. Granted, Jou wasn’t the best student in school, but he did have a flawless attendance record. He yawned, somewhat concerned by Jou’s absence. He knew people were predictable – their patterns, their mannerisms, their habits. And, although Jounouchi had been very strange over the past week, he had never deviated from his most predictable behaviours. Kaiba sighed. He had a sinking feeling that this was indicative of a very serious problem.

The bell rang, ending classes for the morning. Stifling another yawn, he watched as the other students filed out of the room. While he waited for the room to clear, he decided to close his eyes for a moment. As his eyes fluttered shut, out of the corner of his eye he swore he saw Jounouchi standing beside his desk. ‘ _That’s crazy,_ ’ he thought to himself. He heard soft footfalls on the linoleum floor, and slowly opened his eyes. He was startled to see that it was night, and the room was shrouded in darkness. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he wondered how he had managed to sleep all afternoon in school without being disturbed, and why no one had bothered to wake him up. He looked at the doorway and saw a small hooded figure standing there, silhouetted by the light from the hallway. The figure beckoned to him to follow, then slipped out the door, its footsteps echoing in the darkness. Kaiba jumped to his feet and was surprised to find he was no longer dressed in his school uniform; rather, he was wearing his favourite black silk shirt and pants with his trademark dark blue trench coat. He ran after the figure, only to find that the school hallway had become a winding corridor that seemed to stretch out to infinity in both directions. He saw the small person and followed it. As he drew nearer, it gestured to its side, then its form faded from sight, but he could still hear the tiny footsteps slowly walking along the corridor. 

He stopped and looked to his left to see a heavy oak door with metal grating welded over top of it. It looked severely beaten and weathered, despite it being located indoors. Curiously, Kaiba reached over and turned the large brass knob. The door swung open with a rush of air, drawing the brunet in. He found himself knocked to the ground by the intensity of the maelstrom, and quickly got to his feet once the door slammed shut behind him. He looked around the darkened room, unable to make out any furniture or room dimensions. The only illumination was provided by a single pillar candle and the only thing he could see was a tall figure, probably a few inches taller than he was. He heard a soft, deep chuckling, and looked towards the light, squinting to try to perceive more details. He felt a cold wind blow through the room, and he shivered as he pulled his trench coat tightly around his body. The quiet laughter grew louder and shriller until it became a deafening roar. Kaiba winced and put his hands over his ears trying to block the sound.

“What’s the matter, Seto Kaiba? Trying to shut me out?” the figure said, his voice deep and raspy.

“Show yourself!” Kaiba demanded. “Now!”

The voice laughed again. “Do you think you have any power here? You are in my domain now, Seto Kaiba.” The figure raised its arm and Kaiba felt as if an invisible hand had closed around his throat, cutting off his air supply. “Still, I hate to disappoint someone so beautiful.”

As Kaiba felt the grip around his neck relax, he dropped to his knee gasping for breath. Looking at the figure, he saw him raise his arms, and hundreds of candelabras sprang to life casting soft golden light and flickering shadows across the room. The figure stepped forward into the soft glow and Kaiba gasped in surprise. 

The figure was dressed in a long, dark cloak and had a mane of wild, white hair. His face was pale, the skin drawn taut across the gaunt features giving him the appearance of a skeleton with a thin layer of papery skin. Although shrouded by long bangs, his eyes took on a faint red glow as they reflected the dim light. Thin lips curved up into a cruel smile exposing a row of pointed, yellowed teeth. “What’s wrong, Seto Kaiba? Don’t you know me?”

He stood up, quickly composed himself and said coldly, “Should I?”

“My, my, I’m hurt,” the figure said. “And after all the time we’ve been spending together lately, too.”

Kaiba snorted. “Whatever. You’re just a figment of my imagination, a part of a dream.”

“Oh, Seto Kaiba, for a child prodigy such as yourself, I would have thought you would have figured this out a long time ago. It’s so disappointing. Maybe I should have taken on a more familiar form, yes?” Kaiba watched in shock as the figure momentarily appeared as Jounouchi before reverting back to his original form. “Oh dear,” the figure said. “My host is resisting me more and more. I will have to deal with him later. First things first,” he said, staring coldly at the brunet.

Kaiba felt as though ice water was being poured down his throat, and he shivered. “Who are you?” he asked.

The figure shook his head. “You still don’t know me? My name is Ankou.” Cobalt eyes widened in shock. “Ah, I see you recognize my name. Good.”

“Wh-what do you want with me?”

Ankou laughed. “Ah, Seto Kaiba, I only want what you owe me.”

“I owe you nothing,” Kaiba said. “And what have you done with the mu – Jounouchi.”

“You do owe me, Seto Kaiba, but we’ll talk about that later. We still have some time. As for Jounouchi, he’s still around here somewhere…” He waved his hand in the air offhandedly. “It’s unfortunate he is such a strong spirit, though. Normally, I never have to fight for control; however, he has been somewhat of a challenge. I think I’ve got him out of my way for good this time, and while I don’t share his undying love for you, I must admit that you are quite beautiful.” He laughed coldly, “I’ve always been partial to the beautiful ones.”

“Why have you brought me here?”

“I didn’t, my precious. You brought yourself here. I told you that you belong to me now, and you came to me when I called. It is now time to finish what we started the other day.” A malicious glint appeared in Ankou’s eye as he slowly moved nearer to Kaiba, who found himself once again unable to move. He slowly licked his lip, and the brunet watched in horror as the spirit’s teeth transformed into pointed fangs. “I promise this time it won’t hurt as much. Those inefficient human teeth tend to tear the flesh too much.” 

Despite his best efforts, Kaiba cried out in pain as Ankou bent down and he felt the sharp prick of teeth tearing into his already swollen and tender flesh. As Ankou took his blood, Kaiba felt as though his very soul were being ripped from his body. He tried to push his attacker away, but could not move. The room began to spin, and he closed his eyes. He felt himself becoming faint, and wondered what would happen to him if he lost consciousness. His knees became weak and buckled under his weight. He felt Ankou catch him, slipping his arm around his waist and holding him up. Suddenly, he felt himself on his hands and knees on the floor, his vision clearing. He looked up and was stunned to see Jounouchi fighting face-to-face with Ankou.

The blond looked over at him and shouted, “Kaiba, get the hell out of here! Now!”

Kaiba looked at him as he staggered to his feet. “Mutt? What are you doing here?”

Jou gave Ankou a sharp knee to the stomach. “For Christ’s sake Kaiba, there’s no time to explain! I don’t know how long I can hold him back. Fucking run!”

“But –“

“ _RUN!_ ”

He ran towards the oak door as quick as his weakened body could carry him. With considerable effort, he managed to fling it open and rush out into the hallway. As the door swung shut behind him, he heard, “I’ll never let you take him!” followed by a scream of pain from Jounouchi.

* * *

As he was jolted awake he continued to hear screams, then he heard someone say, “Oh my God, he’s dead!” Stunned, he sat bolt upright in his desk chair, his senses taking in his surroundings. He saw Anzu standing in the doorway, her hands clasped to her mouth and on the verge of hyperventilating. Irritated, Kaiba stared at the girl and said, “Will you stop the caterwauling, _please_?” and he saw the wave of relief wash over her when he spoke.

“Oh, Kaiba, thank goodness! I saw all the blood and thought the worst.”

“What blood?” Kaiba snorted, and he looked down at his desk to see a dark red pool on the top of his desk that was dripping over the edge and onto the floor. ‘What the hell?’ he thought, and reached up to touch his neck. When he pulled his fingers away, they were glistening and slick with crimson. “Shit, not again!” he muttered, standing up.

“Kaiba, sit!” the girl ordered. “I know first aid, and I’ll take care of you.”

Kaiba had a mental flash of Anzu tying a gauze tourniquet around his neck and strangling him in the name of ‘first aid’, but he felt too tired to argue or resist. He flopped back down in his seat as the other approached him cautiously, as if nearing a wounded animal, anticipating some kind of backlash.

Carefully, Anzu pulled back the collar of Kaiba’s jacket to expose the blood soaked bandage. She pulled it off, and pressed her cool, slim fingers to the damaged flesh, feeling him lean into her touch. “Oh my God! Kaiba, did someone _bite_ you? Why haven’t you gone to the hospital to have this looked at? Did you report this to the police?”

“Anzu, either shut up and administer first aid, or fuck off and leave me alone,” he said tiredly. “I’m not in the mood to be badgered with questions.”

The petite brunette huffed indignantly, but said nothing, picking up the small first aid kit located at the front of the room. She pulled out a small brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a clean cloth. Pouring some of the liquid onto the fabric, she said, “You might feel a little sting,” and pressed the cloth to the wound.

He cried out as he felt the small bubbles effervescing against his skin, creating a pink tinged foam. He glared at her and said, “That’s more than a little sting.”

‘ _That’s poetic justice, you pompous ass,_ ’ Anzu thought to herself, then in a concerned tone said, “Sorry Kaiba, but we need to clean the injury. It should pass soon.” Once the flow of blood had slowed, she quickly redressed his neck and straightened his collar. “There. That should take care of that, and the blood on your jacket is hardly noticeable.”

As Anzu gathered up the first aid kit and was returning it to the front of the room, Kaiba reached out and grabbed her wrist. She looked back at him, obviously startled. “Thank you,” he said, noting with amusement the look of shock that crossed her face. “I trust that you will keep this incident between the two of us?”

“But Kaiba, I think you should report –“ She saw the icy glare the brunet was giving her. She sighed, “Ok, Kaiba. If that’s what you want.”

He nodded, and released his hold. Anzu returned to his desk and sat in the seat in front of him. She reached out and took his hand in hers, giving it a little squeeze. “Kaiba, are you sure you’re ok? Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked down at the small hand wrapped around his, but he didn’t pull away. He was surprised to find that the gesture felt strangely comforting. He looked into her concerned blue eyes, desperately wanting to tell her everything, then he shook his head. “I’m fine. It’s personal.”

Exasperated, she stared fiercely at him. “Kaiba, why do you fight us so much? We keep reaching out to you, we want to be your friend, and you just keep pushing us away!”

He rolled his eyes. “Save the friendship speech. I’m not interested. I didn’t get to where I am by having friends doting all over me.” He pulled his hand from Anzu’s grasp and crossed his arms defiantly in front of him. “I can take care of things on my own.”

She stood up, hands on her hips and glared at him. “Fine. But one of these days you are going to need a friend, and I only hope that there will be someone around to help you.” She haughtily returned to her desk as the bell rang returning them to their afternoon classes.

For the rest of the day, Kaiba’s mind was occupied with numerous questions about his dream. Had it been a dream? Everything had seemed so real. What was Ankou, and what did he want with him and Jounouchi? Why had the blond risked his own safety for him? He looked over at Yugi, who was watching him with a concerned expression on his face, then to Anzu, who would occasionally sneak a worried glance in his direction then catch herself and go back to ignoring him. As much as he hated to admit it, Anzu was right. If his dream had truly been more than a simple nightmare, then he was lucky that Jou had been around to help him. He sighed inwardly, conflicted between maintaining his hard exterior and reaching out to another human being. He had Mokuba, but the boy was young and would probably be scared by what Kaiba wanted to discuss. He found Anzu’s concern for him comforting, but was reluctant to talk to her and her group after Yugi’s reaction the other day. He laughed bitterly to himself. Here he was, the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation, he struck fear into the hearts of everyone he ran across, and yet he was afraid of having to call someone a friend. ‘ _Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I suppose,_ ’ he thought to himself, pulling two sheets of paper out of his notebook and writing identical notes on each.

When the bell rang at the end of the day, Kaiba quickly gathered up his things and made a point of depositing a folded piece of paper on both Yugi’s and Anzu’s desks. Before either of them could say anything to him, he slipped out the door. The two looked at each other, confused by Kaiba’s mysterious behaviour. Anzu looked towards the empty doorway, then picked up the small note. In neat, tiny script was written, ‘ _I want to talk. My house, tomorrow, 4:00 pm._ ’


	7. October 30 - Devil's Night

Seto Kaiba was glad it was Saturday. He had slept restlessly the night before, partly due to the pain he felt in his body and partly due to the anticipation of his talk with Yugi and Anzu. When he had finally fallen asleep, he had seen Jou in his dreams. The blond had folded him tenderly into his arms, told him not to worry, that he would protect him as best he could, and that this would all be over very soon. He had woken around 8:30 and despite feeling incredibly drained, he found himself unable to go back to sleep. He went into the bathroom and flicked on the light. He was horrified by the reflection staring back at him in the mirror. His skin was pale and ashen, making the dark circles under his eyes seem harsher. His right eye was slightly swollen from the punch he’d received, the bruise extending from the top of his cheek to his temple. His appearance made his eyes seem colder and his expression more severe. He pulled the bandage off his throat and studied the wound. The bruise was dark purple - nearly black – and had almost doubled in size. As he looked closer, he could see two distinct sets of teeth marks in the wound – the six oblong gashes just above his collar bone that Jounouchi had made, and a set of four round puncture marks about an inch above that. He was glad to see that they were no longer bleeding, and opted to skip the bandage. He ran his fingers haphazardly through his auburn hair and stopped abruptly. A streak of white ran through the middle of his bangs as though someone had snuck into his room while he slept and stripped it of all colour. He heard a soft knock on his door, then heard a small voice call out, “Seto, are you in here?”

“Over here, Mokuba,” Kaiba said as he came out of the bathroom.

“Seto, I –“ the young boy stopped mid-sentence and stared at his older brother wide-eyed. “Big brother, are you alright?” he asked, his voice tinged with fear and concern.

Kaiba smiled wearily. “Yes Mokuba, I’m fine,” he lied.

The raven-haired boy cocked his head to the side and raised a questioning eyebrow. “What happened, Seto?”

“A bit of a fight, that’s all.”

“What about your hair?”

“Sometimes that happens when people are under a lot of stress.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Kaiba rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Yes. Make me a sandwich.”

“What kind?”

The brunet sighed in annoyance. “I don’t care – surprise me. Then go to your party and have fun.” He ruffled his younger sibling’s hair, smirking as he watched him get all flustered. “Seriously, little brother, I’ll be fine.”

As soon as Mokuba had left, Kaiba quickly showered and dressed in some loose fitting black cotton pants and a dark blue button-down long sleeve shirt. He walked into his bedroom and saw a large plate on his desk with about five different kinds of sandwiches on it, as well as a note that said, “ _Couldn’t decide, so I made them all._ ” He smiled softly to himself as he sat at his desk and flipped on his laptop. While he waited for it to boot up, he took a roast beef sandwich from the pile. Chewing slowly, he contemplated what he was about to do, and he could feel his heart racing and a faint pink flush spreading across his cheeks. Jounouchi had saved his life, and hopefully he was going to return the favour.

* * *

Kaiba wasn’t a believer in the supernatural. At least, he hadn’t been up until Friday morning. Ankou had mentioned something about Jounouchi being a ‘host’, and that had set Kaiba’s mind in motion. Sitting in front of his laptop, he typed a single word into his search engine – ‘ _Ankou_ ’. His eyes widened in surprise when he got about 30 000 hits. ‘ _Shit,_ ’ he thought as he scrolled through the results, noting that many different languages were represented. He selected several web pages and began to read through the information. After a while, he began a new search, typing ‘ _spirit possession_ ’ into the field. Again, he sifted through the numerous results and read the information provided. The more he read, the more in-depth his searches became. By the time he powered down his laptop, he believed he had sufficient information to know what he was dealing with – he just didn’t know if he would be able to stop it.

He went into the kitchen and put the kettle on for tea. He felt that if he was having guests over, the least he could do was make an attempt to be a good host. He rummaged through the cupboards and the fridge and found an assortment of cookies and part of a cake. He set these out on plates and carried a tray into the living room. When the water was ready, he brewed a pot of tea and brought that out as well. When he was finished, he sat down in his favourite overstuffed black leather recliner, completely exhausted from the effort of preparing snacks.

Shortly after 4:00, he heard the doorbell ring. He opened the door to find Anzu, Yugi and…Honda on his front porch.

“God Kaiba,” Honda piped up, “You look like shit today.” He received a death glare and an elbow to the ribs from Anzu.

Kaiba saw Honda double over and smirked to himself. “No thanks to you,” he said coldly. “I don’t recall inviting you,” he added, narrowing his eyes.

“You didn’t, but I’m their ride and I didn’t think you’d mind,” Honda replied. “So, are you going to ask us in, or keep us out here on the porch all afternoon?”

Kaiba stepped aside, allowing the three entrance. Yugi gestured to Anzu to go first, then he followed along behind her. As Honda stepped over the threshold, Kaiba grabbed him by his collar and whispered harshly in his ear, “I still owe you for the other day. Do _not_ annoy me.” He let go of the startled teen and closed the door. He led the way to the living room, and invited them to sit. He poured himself a cup of tea, then opened his mouth as if to speak, but saw the three gaping in amazement and looking around the room. “You look like a pack of tourists,” he said flatly.

Anzu blushed slightly and said, “Well Kaiba, we’ve never been over to your house before.”

“And I’ve only ever seen your office,” Yugi added.

“We’ll take the tour later,” the brunet replied sarcastically. “Business first.”

“Um, so Kaiba, how are you feeling?” Anzu asked softly, discretely pointing to her throat. “You look…different than yesterday.”

Kaiba nodded, “I would be lying if I said I’d never felt better, but I am getting by. As for my recent change in appearance, that’s what we need to talk about. Bear with me while I try to explain things and keep an open mind.” He glanced over at Yugi, who gulped nervously. “Last week, if anyone had suggested to me what I’m about to tell you, I’d have told them they were an idiot and had them removed from my sight. Today, I’m convinced that we are dealing with something beyond our understanding.” He paused to take a sip of his tea, watching the three friends staring at him wide-eyed on the sofa. “Yesterday, something I heard triggered a thought in my mind, and I’ve spent the better part of today doing some research. It is my belief that the mu – Jounouchi is in the unfortunate position of playing host to a bad spirit, or more correctly, a demon.”

“No!” Anzu gasped and put her hands over her mouth while Yugi choked on his tea. Honda, who had been in the process of devouring a piece of cake, dropped his fork with a clatter. “How? When?” she stammered.

“I don’t know when, but my best guess would be when Jounouchi was in the hospital. Mokuba told me about how it was there he had met his so-called ‘guardian angel’. I suspect that Jounouchi unknowingly invited a bad spirit into his body, thinking it was benevolent. All the signs are there – headaches, nightmares, intensified emotions, strange and rapid movements, talking nonsense, talking to himself. The only problem is that many of these ‘symptoms’ are also common in concussion victims.”

“Kaiba,” Honda began, a puzzled expression on his face, “This is probably a stupid question, but how do you know Jou’s not just experiencing side effects from his concussion?”

“You’re right. It was a stupid question,” Kaiba replied, smirking. “I know because I’ve seen the spirit, fought with him, and been injured by him.”

Anzu’s eyes widened, and she said, “That’s what bit you!”

Kaiba nodded. “That’s also why I’ve been so tired lately – he took something from me, like a part of my soul. That is also what caused this,” he said, pointing to the white streak in his hair. “This spirit, Ankou, is not a very nice one. Whether he is _the_ Ankou, or another demon that has assumed his name, I don’t know. However, Ankou is an agent of death, Celtic in origin, and found in folklore and mythology around the world. On a positive note, whatever the spirit is trying to do, Jounouchi is making it difficult for him to accomplish it. The mutt is a fighter, and I think he’s starting to make the spirit a little agitated. I owe him one and I need to figure out a way to free him.” 

“Did you have something in mind, Kaiba?” Anzu asked.

Kaiba looked at the three of them. “I know this is going to sound ludicrous, but I think we need to exorcise the spirit. I can’t do it by myself – I’m not strong enough after this week, so I need your help. Besides –“ He looked at the group and swallowed hard, “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what the spirit would have done with me. I never thought I’d say this, but for once I’m glad he was around.”

Anzu, Yugi and Honda exchanged glances, then the spike-haired teen looked over at Kaiba, chewing on his bottom lip as if contemplating something serious. Finally he said, “Kaiba, why do you think Jou would go out of his way to protect you?”

Kaiba shrugged, “Wherever the spirit is, he is too.”

Yugi stared at Kaiba, a wide grin forming on his face. “Oh my God! You have no idea, do you? For someone so in tune with his surroundings, you sure missed this one, Kaiba!”

Kaiba snorted. “What the hell are you talking about, Yugi?”

Yugi giggled, “Kaiba, Jou likes you…I mean he really _likes_ you.”

The brunet’s eyes widened slightly and he felt his heart do a flip-flop in his chest. “Ridiculous,” he said, feeling a faint blush creep over his cheeks.

“Oh my God!” Yugi gasped, bouncing in excitement on the sofa. “You like Jou! That’s the real reason why you want to help him!”

Kaiba felt himself turning redder. “Can we dispense with the nursery school antics, please? Are you three going to help me or not?”

Yugi looked at him smugly, “Admit you like Jou.”

“No,” Kaiba said sternly.

“Admit it, or we won’t help you,” Yugi smirked, crossing his arms defiantly in front of him.

Kaiba sighed, “Fine. Maybe on some deep, hidden level the mutt might have started to grow on me – like mould…or fungus.”

Yugi grinned, “Ok Kaiba, we’ll help you. What do you need us to do?”

* * *

Kaiba laid out his plans to Yugi, Anzu and Honda, describing what they would need to perform the ritual, what they would have to do, and what to do in the event something went wrong. He told them to return to his house tomorrow around noon, and that should give them time to prepare. The plan was to carry out the ceremony in the evening while Mokuba was out trick-or-treating. As they were discussing the final details, the youngest Kaiba brother returned home. 

“Hey Seto! You should have seen the –“ He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw his brother talking to Yugi, Anzu and Honda. “Ok, what’s going on here?” he demanded, placing his hands on his hips.

It was Anzu who spoke first. “Uh, we needed to talk to your brother about something really important.”

“Yeah, his crush on Jounouchi!” Yugi blurted out, ducking a swat from Anzu.

Mokuba looked at his brother, who was trying desperately to hide a blush, then at the other three, and he broke into a wide grin. “That’s _AWESOME_!” he cried. “I knew you liked Jou, Seto. I’m so happy for you, big brother. This calls for a celebration – I’m ordering pizza!” He skipped out of the room singing, “Seto and Jou, Sitting in a Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

As soon as the small Kaiba was gone, Anzu punched Yugi hard on the arm and said, “What did you say that for?”

“Ow!” Yugi replied, rubbing his arm, “I’m sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind and it just slipped out!”

“Well, make sure you don’t let anything else slip out! We don’t want Mokuba to know what we’re doing tomorrow, or else he’s going to want to help,” Anzu said. “Honestly, Yugi! You have to be more careful!”

Kaiba snickered – he was beginning to like Anzu more and more.

Mokuba had returned from ordering, and continued to tease his older brother, much to the amusement of the other three teens. It wasn’t until Kaiba threatened to not let him go out trick-or-treating the next day that the raven-haired boy finally gave it a rest. The five of them had talked and enjoyed dinner together, the other four ganging up on Kaiba for his insistence on using a knife and fork to eat his pizza. Although he had growled something about guests not tormenting their host, he had said it with a small grin on his face. After dinner, Mokuba and Honda went to work carving pumpkins while the other three talked idly. Eventually, Mokuba fell asleep on the sofa, and the other three decided that they, too, should be getting home as it was getting late. Scooping his younger brother up in his arms, he showed his guests to the door, bade them good night, then carried Mokuba up to bed. As he climbed the stairs, he felt a cool breeze skim across his back and he shivered. He felt that he, too, should probably think about getting some sleep; after all, tomorrow was going to be a long day. He tucked the boy into his blankets, and tenderly stroked the mane of long black hair that was spread out on the pillow. After a few moments, he headed down the hall to his room, again feeling a cold draft. ‘ _Must be coming from one of the fireplaces,_ ’ he thought, making a mental note to check them in the morning. He opened his bedroom door and stepped inside. He shivered uncontrollably as he realized it was probably fifteen degrees cooler in his room than in the hallway. He flicked on the light and his blood ran cold. 

In the middle of his bed was the body of his chief of security, lying naked and ravaged with deep gashes, the chest cavity pried open as though some sinister autopsy had taken place. The internal organs were neatly arranged at the foot of the bed, and blood could be seen seeping onto the dark duvet cover, staining everything it touched. The security guard’s head had been crudely hacked off, and was staring wide-eyed and open mouthed at Seto from its resting place on the floor, severed pieces of bone and sinew hanging off the remnants of the neck like little bits of meat. The green eyes were now grey and cloudy, and there was a thick, white fluid dripping from the lips. In place of his real head sat Mokuba’s jack-o-lantern, the smiling face beaming garishly at the brunet, reminiscent of something out of Sleepy Hollow.

Kaiba could feel his knees shaking as he cautiously approached the corpse. Looking down at the dissected form, he saw that a note had been inserted into the torso, held in place by a small switchblade knife. With trembling hands, he pulled the note out and through the blood stained paper he read, ‘ _A Kaiba’s a Kaiba. I’m not choosy._ ’ “Oh hell no, Mokuba!” he said aloud, fear gripping his heart. Dropping the note, he ran for his brother’s room. As he reached for the doorknob, a figure in a black cloak stepped forward from the shadows and slammed him against the wall. 

The figure leaned forward, and in a raspy voice Kaiba knew all too well whispered in his ear, “Hello, Beautiful. You know, they say the third time’s the charm…” Kaiba felt the sting of the needle in his neck and immediately, the room started spinning. After a moment, he collapsed into blackness.


	8. October 31 - The Feast of Samhain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Quote is by Maureen Duffy (English Playwright)

Kaiba groaned, painfully aware of a dull throbbing in his head. The only thing he could think was ‘ _aspirin_ ’ as he tried to sit up. He managed to lift his shoulders about six inches before he heard the clink of metal and found himself unable to move any further. His eyes snapped open, and he saw that his arms and legs were outstretched and he was bound by his wrists and ankles with thick leather straps to a hard, metal surface. Stretching his head in various directions, he realized that he was on a stainless steel counter in a brightly lit white room, which he recognized part of the secondary kitchen located at the back of his house. He struggled with all his might against his restraints, but was unable to budge them. Dejectedly, he laid his head back against the counter to wait.

He felt a cold breeze blow through the room, then heard, “I was wondering when you were going to wake up. I don’t have all night, you know.”

Half sitting, Kaiba looked towards the sound of the voice and saw Jounouchi standing there, the brunet’s laptop in hand, his golden locks streaked on both sides with a wide band of grey. “What do you want with me, Ankou?”

“Right to the point, I like that.” The spirit broke into a wide grin, “Today is Samhain, the day when the spirit world and the physical world are closest together. I can’t remain here in this form forever. I want my own body, and to do that, I have to sacrifice someone who loves me. You are going to help me do that. In fact, I have a feeling that you’ll be _dying_ to.” He laughed softly as he flipped open the laptop, then frowned. “Oh, Seto Kaiba, it looks like you’ve been a busy little bee. So, you think you know all about me? You think I can be stopped like some common poltergeist?” Ankou threw the computer against the wall where it shattered, then narrowing his eyes, he slithered his form over Kaiba’s body and whispered in his ear, “I’m not that easy to destroy, my precious – unlike you.” He bent forward, capturing Kaiba’s lips in a deep kiss, his fingers knotted in the amber tresses. He felt the goose bumps along Kaiba’s throat, and lovingly stroked the damaged and purpled flesh. “You know, Seto Kaiba, normally I would just kill you in cold blood like I did to your puppet upstairs.” He looked deep into Kaiba’s cobalt blue eyes, and the brunet found himself unable to avert his gaze. “But, it’s the strangest thing – I can’t fucking stand you, yet I want to touch you, maybe even fuck you.” Ankou laughed coldly and licked his lips lecherously, “I guess that’s a little bit of Jounouchi showing through, no?”

“You are nothing like Jounouchi. He will defeat you.”

“ _SHUT UP!_ ” Ankou roared, punching Kaiba in the mouth, bruising his own knuckles in the process.

Kaiba coughed, then leaned over the table and spat, the blood forming a large crimson starburst on the floor. He glared at the spirit defiantly. “You’re the one that was abusing Jounouchi’s body,” he growled. “All the bruises, the burns, you did that to him.”

Ankou grinned wickedly. “What the hell do I care about some human shell? I’ll treat my host any way I see fit, particularly if it’s to punish him. As long as I reside in his form, he won’t die but I will make him feel the pain.”

Kaiba licked his lip and spat another mouthful of blood on the floor. “Jou will defeat you,” he repeated.

Ankou sneered at Kaiba. “So, you think you’re strong too, Seto Kaiba? Let’s find out just how strong you are before you die.” He snatched a filet knife from the butcher’s block, licking the blade and slicing a deep gash into his own tongue. As he slowly approached the brunet, his face twisted into a snarl, thick droplets of blood dripping from between his teeth and onto the linoleum. He looked like a rabid animal about to ravage its prey. He flipped the knife over in his hand, and in one quick motion drove the knife into Kaiba’s lower abdomen. 

Kaiba hissed as he felt white hot pain, and he closed his eyes. He felt the blade being withdrawn from his body, sliding easily through the taut flesh. He opened his eyes and saw Ankou standing beside him, licking his blood off the knife.

The spirit looked down at him, Jou’s amber eyes burning with a mixture of hatred and lust. “The beautiful ones always taste the sweetest,” he said, thrusting his fingers into the open gash and withdrawing a handful of dark red blood. Kaiba groaned in pain. “Do you see this?” he asked. “The blood is dark, almost black. I’ve punctured your liver, and as the night goes on, you are going to slowly bleed to death, unless of course I decide to kill you before then. Don’t worry, my precious, I’d say you still have two, maybe three hours left.” He licked his fingers, then wiped the rest of the blood on Kaiba’s already blood-soaked shirt. He trailed his hand up and down Kaiba’s chest, then tore open the brunet’s shirt, exposing the hard, smooth body underneath. He licked Kaiba’s cheek, leaving a bright red streak of blood, and tenderly ran his fingers through the chestnut hair. “I must give you credit, Seto Kaiba. A lesser man would have been begging me for death by now.”

Kaiba shivered in the cool air, and snarled, “I will die before I ever beg you for anything!”

Ankou snorted in amusement. “Really? Let’s find out, shall we?”

The spirit disappeared from Kaiba’s line of sight, and he could hear the sound of scraping, as if something large was being dragged across the floor. When Ankou returned, he was pushing a large leather desk chair. Kaiba watched in horror as the spirit swung the chair around so the brunet could see Mokuba duct taped completely to the chair, a ball gag in his mouth so he couldn’t scream. Ankou stood over top of the raven haired boy, the knife to his throat, a small stream of blood trickling down his collar. Kaiba could see the streaks on his face from where the younger boy had been crying. “Please,” Kaiba whispered, “Leave Mokuba out of this.”

“How quickly you give in after all!” the spirit smirked. “Don’t worry – you’re the one I’m after, Seto Kaiba. I just want your little brother to see how brave you really are. As long as you play nice, I won’t harm the boy – for now.” He patted Mokuba on the head as he pulled the knife away, leaving a thin slash where it had been. A fresh wave of tears streamed down the young boy’s cheeks.

Ankou rounded on him viciously. “Listen to me you little bastard, stop fucking crying or your brother dies now!”

Mokuba shook in fear, his eyes wide as he looked at his friend, then at his brother. He managed to slow the tears, but every so often he would let out a muffled sob followed by sharp, quick intakes of breath.

Kaiba sat up and looked at the terror on his brother’s face. “It’s ok, Mokuba. I’m ok. Just remember, this might look like Jounouchi, but it isn’t him, alright?”

“Silence!” Ankou shouted, driving the knife deep into Kaiba’s right shoulder, just under the collar bone. The brunet cried out as the spirit twisted the blade deeper into the flesh, a malicious smile on his face. Placing his left hand on Kaiba’s shoulder, he wrenched the knife to the side, breaking the blade off inside. “Every time you try to move, you will feel the cold metal twisting deeper into your flesh, severing tendon and bone.”

Kaiba felt tears of pain welling up in his eyes, and he quickly blinked them away. He had to figure out a way to get Jounouchi back in control before he lost too much blood. He was already starting to feel a little light-headed and cold. He heard the spirit rummaging through a drawer, and although he knew his idea was a long shot, he had to try. “Jounouchi,” he said softly, “Jou, can you hear me?” He heard the spirit stop. “Jou, it’s me, Kai – Seto. I know you’re still in there, and I know you’re still fighting. You told me you would. I need you, Jou. And, I do care, more than _you_ know.” He heard slow footsteps crossing the floor.

The blond’s face came into view, a confused expression on his face. “Seto?” he said. “You’ve never let me call you that.”

“I was…in denial.”

“You lie.”

“No, it’s the truth.”

“ _LIAR!_ ” the blond shouted. “Seto Kaiba, stop trying to interfere! Jounouchi is gone. You cannot defeat me!” Angrily, he went back over to the drawer and returned with a small metal cylinder. “Tell me, Seto Kaiba, do you love me?”

Kaiba hesitated, unsure of who he was speaking to at any given moment. “I – I love Jounouchi.”

“Jounouchi!” Ankou spat. “If you love him, then you must also love me. Do you know what this is?” the spirit asked, holding the small cylinder out for Kaiba to see.

Kaiba felt sick when he saw it. “It’s a butane cylinder with a burner used for caramelising desserts.”

“Very good, Seto Kaiba. But, we’ll use this shortly. We have to prepare first.” The spirit unbuckled Kaiba’s pants and pulled them and his boxers down to his knees. “I need to see how much you love me,” he said, and he began to slowly stroke Kaiba’s penis. Within a few minutes, Kaiba had a raging erection which the spirit palmed expertly. Finally, Kaiba came, his seed spilling over the blond’s hand. Ankou licked his fingers seductively, then whispered to Kaiba, “The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.1 Love is easy when it’s for pleasure, but what about when it’s for pain?” He stepped back and lit the flame on the torch.

Kaiba stared at him wide-eyed, and looked over at Mokuba, who was trembling, his eyes squeezed shut. Ankou looked from brother to brother, and smiled sweetly. “Oh, Mokuba, darling, you will either open your eyes and watch this, or your brother dies and you get to take his place.”

The young boy opened his eyes, and tried to focus on anything but his brother as the spirit approached Kaiba with the torch, hesitating slightly.

Kaiba noticed and said, “Jou, please, fight him!”

The blond brought the torch close to Kaiba’s body, hesitating, then pulled it away. He drew it near again, only to pull back once more. After a few moments, the blond used the torch to singe his own left hand, crying out in pain as he did so. Smiling demonically, he brought the torch down close to Kaiba’s crotch. As he moved the flame around, he watched as the delicate curls shrank and seemed to evaporate from Kaiba’s body, filling the air with the acrid smell of burnt hair. He looked up and saw a look of stubborn defiance raging in the brunet’s cobalt eyes. “Fuck you, Seto Kaiba,” he said, bringing the flame in contact with his penis.

Kaiba howled in pain as the flame burned the delicate skin, turning it cherry-red and causing large, watery blisters to erupt on it. He heard the blond snicker, and felt the torch move a little further down, burning his testicles and causing the tender flesh to crack and bleed. He was just approaching Kaiba’s opening when the torch sputtered and went out.

“Fucking cheap piece of shit!” Ankou shouted, hurling the empty cylinder at the wall where it ricocheted to the floor with a clatter. “No matter,” he said, turning his attention back to Kaiba. “If I can’t burn it off, at least you’ll be able to feel everything I do to you.” He forcibly grabbed Kaiba’s burnt cock in his fist and began to violently stroke the brunet. 

Tears flowed down Kaiba’s cheeks as the blond squeezed and pumped his wounded organ. After a few moments, the blisters broke, the fluid stinging the damaged skin. The blond roughly forced all four fingers from his other hand deep into Kaiba’s opening, and began to probe the small bundle of nerves he found. Kaiba screamed at the intrusion, and tried to will his body to climax just to get the blond off of him. 

Ankou tightened his grip on Kaiba, and began stripping charred pieces of flesh from his penis as one might strip bark from a tree. The brunet cried out, but this only made Ankou work harder. Finally, raw and bleeding, Kaiba managed a feeble orgasm. Sweating profusely, pale, and crying, he panted breathlessly on the table as Ankou withdrew his hand from inside him, and stood over him. “Love is indeed pain. My turn,” he said.

Ankou straddled the brunet’s chest and pulled Jou’s half-erect penis out of his pants. He began to stroke himself furiously, using a mixture of semen and blood to lubricate himself. It wasn’t long before the blond exploded with a triumphant roar on Kaiba’s face. When he had finished, he leaned forward and licked every drop of the pearly liquid off of the brunet. He bent down and kissed Kaiba deeply, allowing the fluid to seep into his mouth. Ankou pulled away, pressing forcibly on Kaiba’s shoulder, eliciting a pained scream from him. “You know,” he purred, “You were much better than your security guard, Beautiful.” He stood up and leaned over the brunet, eyeing him lecherously, his fingers slowly trailing up and down his skin.

Feeling the room spinning, Kaiba closed his eyes. Licking his lips, he said, “I’d say the same thing to you, if you were actually Jou.”

“Say you love me,” Ankou ordered.

“I love Jou,” Kaiba replied weakly, fighting to stay conscious.

The spirit dug his fingers into Kaiba’s abdominal wound, tearing the flesh and causing the brunet to cry out in pain. “Say you love me,” he repeated.

Through a haze of pain and tears, Kaiba replied, “I love Jou.”

His face contorted in anger, Ankou pulled a small revolver from the waistband of his jeans and held it point-blank to Mokuba’s temple. “Say you love me, or I will blow his fucking head off!” Mokuba’s eyes went wide in terror, and tears began streaming down his cheeks once more. Ankou took the safety off and cocked the weapon. “ _SAY IT!_ ” the spirit shouted, his voice choked with rage, his hands trembling.

Kaiba looked towards his younger brother, and saw the raven head violently shaking no, as if telling him not to comply. Kaiba drew in a pained breath and his clouded blue eyes slid shut. In a soft voice he said three simple words – “I love Jou.” He heard a scream of fury erupt from the spirit’s mouth and the deafening sound of a shot being fired. A cold chill ran down his spine and he fought back the urge to vomit. He didn’t want to look, but he forced himself to open one eye, then the other. As the room came into focus, he saw Mokuba still alive in his chair, his body wracked with silent sobs. Beside him stood the blond, his body doubled over, his chest heaving, the smoking gun hanging from his limp hand. A wave of relief washed over Kaiba to see his brother unscathed, but he was puzzled as to how the spirit could have missed at such close range. 

As the gun dropped to the floor, he heard Jou’s weak voice say, “Kai..ba…Help me.” The blond fell to his knees and looked up at the brunet. Jou’s face was pale and dripping with sweat. “Distract him. He’s weak. I think I can send him back, but I need you to distract him.” The blond collapsed unconscious on the floor, mentally exhausted.

“Jou!” Kaiba called, “Jou, what do you need me to do?”

“I need you to fucking die, Seto Kaiba. This ends now.” The blond slowly climbed to his feet, staggering slightly. He shook his head as if trying to clear it, then stumbled over to the counter, out of Kaiba’s sight.

The brunet heard the clicking of metal on metal, then the whirring sound of a small motor. When the blond reappeared, he held up a large cordless power drill with a hole saw attached to it. 

Ankou narrowed his eyes and with a hateful smile said, “If you won’t give me your heart willingly, I guess I’ll just have to take it.” He once again straddled the brunet and positioned the saw over Kaiba’s sternum. Snickering darkly, he started the drill slowly spinning. “Don’t want to use full power just yet – what fun would that be?” he said coldly as he lowered the tool onto Kaiba’s skin. 

Kaiba howled in pain as the bit caught hold of his skin and twisted. He felt the tearing and saw the spray of blood and flesh erupting from around the bit. As the spirit pushed down on the back of the drill, he heard a grinding sound. He realized that the drill was cutting into the bones of his ribcage, and as it penetrated deeper it began to bind. Ankou added just enough power to keep the drill moving causing small pieces of marrow and muscle to fly out in a wide, crimson arc from the hole. Kaiba gasped as the saw pierced his left lung, and he felt as though a lead weight had just been dropped on his chest. He tried to draw in a breath, and heard a horrible gurgling sound. Looking down at his chest, he could see the blood coming out in a froth of pink bubbles. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he said, “Wait,” but the words were barely audible.

Ankou stopped the drill, reversing the bit out at full power and tearing off a large chunk of flesh in the process. He leaned forward and said, “Did you say something to me, Beautiful?”

Kaiba nodded groggily and whispered, “Kiss me.” He closed his eyes and thought to himself, ‘ _Please, let this work…_ ’

The spirit quirked an eyebrow at him. “This won’t stop me from killing you, you know.”

Kaiba nodded again. “I know.” 

Ankou shrugged, “What the hell.” He leaned over and captured the brunet’s blood soaked lips in his own. The spirit moaned in pleasure when he felt Kaiba respond by thrusting his tongue up to meet his own. He felt Kaiba’s pained breaths coming in ragged gasps, and he felt a rush through his body, knowing he was feeling the life slipping away from him. He dropped the drill and grasped both of the brunet’s cheeks in his hands. He pulled away and said, “My precious, with your dying breaths you finally give yourself to me,” then attacked Kaiba’s swollen lips once more. Suddenly he sat up, anger on his face. “You tricked me, you fucking son-of-a-bitch! No! Jounouchi, no! It can’t end like this, I was so close! I won’t go back!”

Through half-lidded eyes, Kaiba watched as the blond held his hands to his head and let out a howl of rage, then he was still. Wheezing, he whispered, “Jou?”

After a moment, the blond head perked up slowly, surveying the scene. As his mind slowly cleared, his brain finally registered what had happened. Panicked, he jumped off the brunet, softly cupping the brunet’s cheek in his palm. “Oh shit, Kaiba, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

Kaiba smiled weakly. “S’ok, Pup. I’m the one who should be sorry. Just glad you’re ok.”

“Yeah, but you’re not. I’m going to go call an ambulance.”

Kaiba shook his head. “No, stay with me. I feel so cold…”

Jou carefully released the bindings around Kaiba’s wrists and ankles, then tenderly took the brunet’s hand in his, stroking it softly. “Kaiba, there’s something I have to tell you…” he began.

Kaiba looked over at him and smiled softly. “I know, Pup. I love you, too.” He chuckled bitterly, “Too bad we only found out under these circumstances.” He coughed, leaned over and spat some foamy blood on the floor. “Kiss me, just once?”

Jou looked at the naked and broken body of his love, tears welling up in his eyes. Lovingly, he pushed the blood soaked bangs out of the brunet’s face, then leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Kaiba’s lips.

Kaiba reached up and, groaning in pain, took the blond’s cheeks in his hands. As best as he could, he pressed himself tightly against Jou. He broke the kiss and whispered, “Thank you…Katsuya,” then slipped back down on the table, his eyes closed, his hands dropping to his side. With a choked sigh, his final breath slipped from his lips, a half smile frozen on his face.

Jou softly stroked the chestnut hair before burying his face in Kaiba’s bloodied chest and sobbing uncontrollably. When he was finished, he looked over with bloodshot eyes at the younger Kaiba still tied to the chair. The small boy’s slate grey eyes were red and puffy, and he looked on the verge of a fresh wave of tears. Jou removed the gag and carefully cut the duct tape. He picked up his gun and leaned against the wall facing Kaiba, his body sliding down to a sitting position, his legs extended in front of him.

After a couple of minutes, Mokuba joined him, nestling into his side and crying bitterly. Jou wrapped his arm around the small boy and gently patted him on the back. For about ten minutes neither said anything, then finally Mokuba asked, “What happens now, Jou?”

Jou sighed. “I don’t know, kid. I imagine the cops will have a lot of questions.”

“What are you going to do?”

Jou looked at the small boy, and smiled softly. “I want you to go and call the police, tell them what happened. I have something I need to do, and I don’t want you around when I do it.”

“What are you going to –“ he stopped as he saw the blond looking sadly at Kaiba, absently switching the revolver from hand to hand. “Oh Jou, you can’t!”

“Mokuba, I can’t go through the rest of my life without him, especially knowing what I’ve done here.”

“But Jou, it wasn’t you.”

“Maybe, but his blood is on my hands. Now go, get out of here. This is going to be messy.” He stood up and offered his hand to Mokuba.

The young boy’s eyes welled up with tears and he said, “I’m not leaving you! I don’t want to lose you both!”

“I’m sorry, Mokuba,” Jou said, grabbing him by the collar and tossing him over his shoulder. He nearly stumbled when Mokuba started fighting against him, but he managed to set him outside the kitchen and lock the door behind him. He heard Mokuba pounding on the door, begging to be let in, trying to bargain with him, but the blond ignored him. He walked over to where Kaiba still lay and said, “Thank you for saving me from myself.” With trembling hands, he cocked the revolver. He placed another soft kiss on Kaiba’s lips and said, “I’ll see you on the other side.” He put the gun under his chin and squeezed the trigger.

On the other side of the door, Mokuba screamed, then there was silence.

* * *

The three teens had found Mokuba on Halloween morning, sitting outside the door to the kitchen, his knees drawn up around his chest, rocking back and forth. Honda had managed to break the lock, but none of them were prepared for what awaited them. A heavy copper scent hung heavy in the air, the sickly sweet aroma overpowering them as the door was opened. The back half of the room was covered with blood, bone, and little pieces of brain. Kaiba was still in his position on the table, Jounouchi’s body draped over top of him in a macabre embrace. Anzu had called the police and after investigating, they had ruled it a murder/suicide, but Yugi, Honda and Anzu knew better. They’d had to deal with rumours at school, and endure cruel taunts from classmates saying that Jounouchi had been a certifiable lunatic. 

The whole event had affected Mokuba the most. After that night, he had not spoken another word, spending his days staring blankly ahead of him or crying uncontrollably. Top psychiatrists had examined him and determined that the young Kaiba was suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder, and would eventually come out of it. In the meantime, he had been committed to a mental institution and put under suicide watch. Within a week his hair had gone completely grey due to the extreme stress of watching his brother tortured and from not being able to keep one of his best friends from killing himself.

Anzu stroked Mokuba’s hair as she sat beside him on his bed as the boy sobbed silently against her shoulder. “The funeral was today, Mokuba,” she told him. “It was a beautiful service, and the room was filled with all kinds of flowers. They were buried side by side, so they can always be together. I’ve talked to the nurses, and they think that maybe next week we can take you to see it. There’s a big cherry tree right next to the site, and just over a hill there’s a nice pond where the ducks swim. It’s very pretty, what do you think?”

When she got no response from the boy, she looked helplessly at Yugi, who just shrugged. “We’ll get through this, Mokuba,” she said, kissing him softly on the forehead, “We’ll get through this.”

“Well Mokuba,” Yugi said, hugging the small boy tightly, “Our hour’s up, but we’ll be back tomorrow to visit you. Hurry up and get well, we want to have you over when you get out of here.”

Mokuba didn’t respond to Yugi’s touch, he simply stared straight ahead, a blank expression on his face, his eyes dark and bloodshot. As the two teens left the room, Mokuba sat back down on his bed, his hands forming into small fists in his lap. As he sat there staring at the wall, he felt a cool presence next to him and a soft voice spoke gently, “You need to get better, Mokuba, so you can get out of here. I need you…I love you. I will be your guardian angel.” For the first time since Halloween, Mokuba’s lips curved into a small smile.


End file.
